Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Hosting Software and Control Panels : most popular web Scripiting langauge?

[CERTIFIED CF TAGGER]

I'm pretty sure asp is prob the most common web scripiting language. i definitely see php gaining popularity. and although i hate to admit it, i see the demise in the coldfusion language. I have been coding with it for over two years and seems like most sites are done in asp or php.

the viability of coldfusion is a hot topic in allaire forums, but because the majority of coders on that site are coldfusion coders, it tabulates what i believe are biased opinons.

what are your thoughts on coldfusion. and what web scripiting language do you guys prefer and see wide acceptance in the near future? thanks.

[BC]

Thoughts : ASP is extremely common (particularly where I am) so it's extremely popular. I usually code in PHP for ease (and because I prefer working with Apache based sites over NT/2000 boxes).

I've also had a go at CFM, and while I find it relatively easy to understand and very flexible.... It's never going to catch ASP because you need to buy CF to program in CFM (especially when you can do the same thing for free in ASP or PHP).

JSP could be a way of the future, considering Java's powerful OO features and its adaptability for server-side programming on the Net.

[cperciva]

Aren't you, err, well, missing some options? My favorite languages to write scripts in are C, sh, csh, and perl, in that order.

[kunal]

add perl

C, sh and csh, arnt really front end languages for the web...

[cperciva]

Originally posted by kunal
C, sh and csh, arnt really front end languages for the web...

They aren't? Gee, I guess I'd better start rewriting some code .

Seriously, C is a very good language to write in for scripts which are going to be run often; the cost of running precompiled code is usually much lower than loading a massive interpreter and running the interpreted code.

I've written CGI scripts* which have gotten accessed hundreds of times per second on a midrange server in C, and I know that if I tried to write the same code in perl the entire system would grind to a halt.

*CGI scripts which were actually part of a beowulf-over-HTTP experiment... it's a long story.

[kunal]

cperciva, i agree.. pre-compiled code is better.. but remember, on a virtual account, you cant run that code? or can you?

[cperciva]

Well, you can run precompiled code if gcc is available. Or even if it isn't, provided that you have a system elsewhere with the *exact* same operating system.

[kunal]

well there you haveee it... problem #1

[huck]

PERL and ASP, in that order, are (IMHO) the most popular scripting languages that are in use, with PHP gaining.

Why?

PERL has the history of being one of the first, widely used server-side scripting languages for the web. You can go to any archive and PERL scripts will outnumber ASP by almost 2:1. A large number of web sites use legacy PERL scripts for a variety of intranet and internet applications.

ASP has been the commerce language of choice due to the heavy use of Win NT/2K infrastructure in many large coporates. Also, ASP provides easy intergration with exisiting MS SQL and Oracle databases. The IIS-ASP-SQL combination is hard to beat when trying to tie both non web and web applications into the same database.

Coporate, Small Business, and Casual
Many coporations rely on proven standards, e.g. Python, PERL, ASP, and Java, for their web hosting needs. There are a few other languages creeping into the market place, but these languages dominate. I worked with a couple of international companies that rely on highly optimized mod_perl to run their e-business.

Personal web sites, small business and others tend to use canned scripts -- these are much easier to set-up and install using PERL and more recently PHP. Most shared hosting solutions require you to use PERL or PHP scripts unless your using IIS. Only with co-lo or dedicated hosting can a small business use alternative scripting languages.


PHP is gaining ground quickly. From Netcraft:

The PHP module is compiled into the Apache server on over 5 million web sites, or approaching 40% of all Apache sites.

I imagine that both PERL and ASP will continue to dominate over the next few years as they represent the installed base. Re-writting customized PERL or ASP code to use a new language is very expensive in the short term -- even if it means savings in the long run. With many dot.coms closing their doors, "long-term" is not in their vocabulary.


That's my cent worth......