Ask HN: What's the best web programming language?

Posted by thatguycheese on Friday March 20, 2009 @01:28PM
from the ask-hn dept.

I want to start developing web pages but i'm not really sure where to start. I like the idea of PHP, but i've been reading it's a spaghetti language and there are better places to start. Can anyone give me advice? Where to start, where to go? Mostly focused on web development

( 8 comments | 2 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: What's the best web programming language? by noodle on Friday March 20, 2009 @01:43PM (#525271)

there is no best language. they're all tools in a toolbox. you can smash a nail in with a screwdriver, but its easier to use a hammer.

the question is, what do you want to do? are you new to web development and want to learn a language? do you have experience with other languages? etc..

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What's the best web programming language? by ksvs on Friday March 20, 2009 @02:38PM (#525360)

there is no best language. they're all tools in a toolbox.

That's intellectual laziness masquerading as broad-mindedness. Obviously Ruby is going to be better for most web apps than Fortran.

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Re:Ask HN: What's the best web programming language? by noodle on Friday March 20, 2009 @03:00PM (#525392)

thats being a bit hypercritical and decontexualizing, don't you think? obviously he doesn't want to use cobol on punch cards, either, but do i actually have to spell that out? fine, i'll do it just for you:

there is no best language for web development . the subset of languages being used for modern web development are all tools in a toolbox.

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Re:Ask HN: What's the best web programming language? by thatguycheese on Friday March 20, 2009 @03:55PM (#525476)

I'm sorry, maybe I didn't make my question clear. I'm not really concerned with a "best" programming language. Perhaps just a place to start and where to go from there. I am familiar with HTML / CSS.

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Re:Ask HN: What's the best web programming language? by noodle on Friday March 20, 2009 @04:06PM (#525494)

i know. again, it depends on your situation. are you familiar with C or a C-based language? or are you totally new to programming? you might find it easiest/quickest to work on PHP. if not, or if you want to learn a currently popular language, you might want to consider ruby or python.

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Re:Ask HN: What's the best web programming language? by gcheong on Friday March 20, 2009 @02:52PM (#525383)

Have a look at: http://philip.greenspun.com/seia/

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Re:Ask HN: What's the best web programming language? by thatguycheese on Friday March 20, 2009 @03:57PM (#525482)

Thanks! Read the intro and reviews on amazon. Looks decent, I'll continue reading.

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Re:Ask HN: What's the best web programming language? by Jem on Friday March 20, 2009 @03:45PM (#525460)

Get to grips with HTML and CSS before you start worrying about anything else.

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