Re: Need to write my first web application - scratching head

Hello all,

I'm a longtime programmer (embedded with a smattering of desktop stuff
as well) who knows very little about web programming. Right now I am
developing the prototype of a multi-user application in MSVC++, but I
think it would make more sense to redo the app as a web application
(which I know almost nothing about, remember). From poking around I
see that PHP is a fairly mainstream candidate for me to consider.
Now, I will continue to poke around in this group and on the web to
gather the fundamentals as to how I need to proceed, but in the
meantime I'm hoping for a few words of wisdom.

So, regarding developing a web application w/ a small database, what
are the key things I need to know? What are the key things I need to
avoid? How can I maximize my chances of success and minimize my
chances of throwing my computer off the balcony?

One requirement of this application is to be able to print from the
client computers, so I presume some code will need to be located there
as well as on the server. What is the typical way to do this?

Thanks for any and all tips.

Mike



I'm going to go astray of the PHP gods for you, but I would seriously
recommend that, since you already have a background, Visual Basic (not
free) and visual Basic .NET (two entirely DIFFERENT animals regardless
of their name), are RAD programs and can do exactly what you want. The
compiler comes with it, and the executables for delivery are very small
compared to most other languages.
I would recommend VB version 6 with SP6 and the MSDN Help system.
VB.NET is OK too but more complex and not necessary for what you want to
accomplish.

I do not mean to say you can not do it in PHP; you definitely can, and
likely for a lot less money. A local server on your system, PHP and
you're ready to write code. I am only pointing out another route - the
one I would follow if it were me.
I should also mention I am not a guru in either language; only
experienced in the areas I am interested in; self taught mostly.

My 2 ¢, FWTW <g>

Twayne


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: PHP global namespace clogged up
    ... Only a bad programmer would confuse the two. ... PHP does not have linking. ... > This is why most programming languages have namespaces - and use them. ... None of the languages I have used in the past 30 years have had namespaces. ...
    (comp.lang.php)
  • Re: Post with redirect?
    ... So far you haven't shown us how do to it in PHP. ... You are backpeddling, troll. ... And you're also afraid we will find out you're not a programmer with 25 years of experience. ... the only thing jerry got right is that it would be a lot of work. ...
    (comp.lang.php)
  • Re: Estimates on money lost because of VB.NET
    ... Professional PHP Developers(not sure if you could suit in that group ... they killed the worlds most popular language without a VIABLE ... programmer as you do not seem to be able to think logically. ... Loss of old code base ...
    (microsoft.public.dotnet.languages.vb)
  • Re: Breaking backwards compatibility - good or bad?
    ... >that people moving to PHP from other languages look at the current PHP ... >scripts they might as well switch to a new and reliable language. ... For the programmer to have a problem, ... would have to be using references in a situation that clearly doesn't ...
    (comp.lang.php)
  • Re: [PHP] redoing website after 7 years
    ... feature, a feature at one point touted as useful to the PHP language. ... I didn't mean to imply that the programmer did build an insecure app. ... If the designer didn't build an insecure app, then it wont hurt a thing to turn on register_globals and just go back to the way it was before the ISP ...
    (php.general)