Which web scripting language is ideal for generating dynamic content on a webpage from files on the server?

Question

I'm currently in the process of revamping a website, and I was hoping for some input (pros/cons?) on which web scripting language to use. I have been considering PHP, but I'd like to find out if there's anything that might be "better."

I'd like to have "dynamic content" on the pages by having a script check through all of the files within a directory, parse through them to organize the information, and filling the content on the page. Unfortunately, I don't know details in terms of the web server being used, but I can find out if that factors into the problem.

I'm under the impression that making the switch to having webpages script-generated will streamline the process significantly. I'm also hoping that it will make it easier for others to update in the future (since they could just follow a template for a file instead of digging through HTML).

FYI - I'm a complete newbie to web scripting (am much more familiar with OO/procedural languages), so I'm open to any ideas.

Answer 1

From what you said, most of the operations will just be disk access, so in terms of performance, it doesn't really matter which language you choose (it will mostly depend on the hardware).



PHP is very popular, easy to learn, easy and cheap to find a hosting, and because it's popular, it's easy to get help when you come across problems. In terms of speed, it's not the best, although not extremely bad either. And for what you are doing, it shouldn't have any impact.



Regarding OO, many web scripting languages, including PHP, are actually also OO.

Answer 2

PHP might be the easiest to learn. It also performs pretty well.



Other options include ASP.NET which takes a longer time to learn and master. Once mastered, it is also pretty efficient to be used for development. With ASP.NET you don't use a scripting language but rather a .NET programming language that is compiled (like C#).



Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Hypertext Preprocessor is least confusing and quickest for a beginner. PERL is proper for long-term expert use, yet lots greater sturdy to earnings. ASP.internet won't run on LAMP servers. Javascript is clientside, so it won't do the activity (your code has to run on the server).