Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application...

Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by wayne on Sunday October 05, 2008 @02:23AM (#323934)

It's not totally crazy. I think Meebo's mostly written in C++, for instance, since they're always looking for C++ and JavaScript people but they never mention scripting in their job ads: http://www.meebo.com/jobs/openings/server/ I think they mention in one of these blog posts that they wrote a lighttpd module.

I've written a C++ Apache module for a simple web app before. It's definitely harder than using a scripting framework though, not so much because of the language, but more that frameworks have functions that help you do just about anything (e.g. sanitize input, construct safe SQL). In C++ land you're more on your own since most people aren't crazy enough to build a web app in C++.

Also, if you go down this route and you're particular about C vs. C++, check out mod_cpp for building Apache modules: http://sourceforge.net/projects/modcpp/

I echo the advice that if you have something performance-sensitive, build it in C/C++, but proxy it through something built with a better-known framework. Thrift is great for this: http://incubator.apache.org/thrift/

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by jgalvez on Sunday October 05, 2008 @03:05AM (#323961)

Thanks a lot, Thrift looks very cool. That's exactly the kind of thing I would see myself doing a lot. Offload stuff out of Python altogether and communicate with a C++ daemon.

I heard about Thrift when Protocol Buffers came along but didn't bother to look into it. Is it any better than PB? Does anyone have any experience on this to share?

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by wayne on Sunday October 05, 2008 @04:43AM (#323998)

Here's the big Thrift/PB comparison table: http://stuartsierra.com/2008/07/10/thrift-vs-protocol-buffer...

Personally, I like Thrift better. More languages and greater community participation.

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by wheels on Sunday October 05, 2008 @03:49AM (#323982)

Meebo's in Java. Or at least so said the founder when on a recent TechCrunch meetup panel. Specifically, he was making cracks at Ian (from Songkick) for Songkick being in Ruby. ;-)

http://uk.techcrunch.com/2008/09/21/techcrunchtalk-video-sta...

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by wayne on Sunday October 05, 2008 @04:39AM (#323995)

I think you're confusing Bebo and Meebo. The co-founder of Bebo was on that panel and Bebo is written in Java.

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by wheels on Sunday October 05, 2008 @04:45AM (#324000)

Dammit. I swear I'm too old for Web 2.0. ;-)

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by michaelneale on Sunday October 05, 2008 @05:21AM (#324013)

It's ok, you just had a "senior" moment. Just relax, and don't forget the blood pressure pills ;)

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by jfarmer on Sunday October 05, 2008 @04:00PM (#324288)

I doubt the front-end stuff, e.g., templating, is written in C++.

Rather, they use C++ because the library that powers their IM client, libpurple, is written in C. Writing a C/C++ bridge to whatever (Java, Ruby, Python, PHP) isn't hard and there are lots of generic solutions out there already, e.g., Thrift.

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by kingkongrevenge on Sunday October 05, 2008 @09:50AM (#324088)

bloglines is entirely C++. I remember seeing some interview where the guy said it was critical to beating their competitors. They were all busy trying to scale while bloglines already worked.

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by tlrobinson on Sunday October 05, 2008 @04:14PM (#324302)

Interesting. That seems to be the exact opposite of pg's view that Lisp was one of Viaweb's main competitive advantages, because it allowed them to rapidly add new features.

http://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by jgalvez on Sunday October 05, 2008 @08:36PM (#324483)

I think Lisp is reasonably fast, possibly as fast as C++.

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by quasimojo on Sunday October 05, 2008 @11:55AM (#324139)

and where are they now

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by jgalvez on Sunday October 05, 2008 @12:21PM (#324156)

Well, I think the only major competitor to Bloglines these days is Google Reader which is in... C++ as well. Well, I would guess also probably a few bits of Python in between. Any googlers here? :)

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Re:Suppose I wanted to write a C++ based web application... by henning on Sunday October 05, 2008 @07:15PM (#324426)

How do you know it's C++ and not Java?

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