Your Web Toolkit, Opinions on Languages, Applications, and Learning Options

[JonHMChan]

This isn't exactly meant to be a novice-friendly discussion, but I wanted to know everyone's opinions on the pros and cons of some of the web languages and applications that are being used on the internet at an intermediate or advanced level. I just decided to get rather aggressive about learning other web lang/apps and I thought it would be a good idea to ask others' opinions before I (and others that might take a look at this thread) take the time to go learn them. Of course, I also think this would make for a very interesting discussion.

- What languages/applications do you use for web design/programming (your toolkit), for how long, and why? Are there aspects about your toolkit that you wish it could do? What is your dream toolkit?
- What is your opinion of other languages/applications, and do you think they are worth learning or using? Why or why not?
- What do you think is the best way to go about learning other lang/apps? How did you learn the lang/apps in your toolkit?

I'll withhold my own reply for now so that there aren't any skewed answers. Any answers would be great, and I hope that this might help out other people who stumble along.

Some topics
HTML, PHP, Javascript, XML, CSS, Python, Ruby, MySQL, Flash, Actionscript 2.0/3.0, L/AMP, AJAX, phpMyAdmin, Photoshop, Illustrator, OOP, ASP, Oracle, VBScript, Django, Rails, Sinatra, TextMate, Dreamweaver

[mipadi]

What Languages/Applications Do I Use?

I use the following languages and tools in my day-to-day programming:

• Python: My web site is written in Python (using the Django web framework, see below). It's a lovely language -- my language of choice for most projects, including non-web projects. I've been using Python for various projects for two and a half years. Sometimes I wish it were more Ruby-esque (see below), but I still love it.
• Django: I often use the Django web framework for building sites. It's probably the best framework I've used, and the documentation's great. I first used it about a year ago.
• Ruby: Another language I commonly use for web programming, I really like a lot of aspects of Ruby, like the fact that everything is an object, and blocks are a nice feature, too. I'm not a huge fan of most of the Ruby web frameworks, though. I've been using Ruby on and off for two years.
• Rails: I've used Rails for a few web sites, but the framework is really heavyweight and not very modular. I've only started messing around with it in the last 6 months.
• Sinatra: Another Ruby framework, Sinatra is extremely lightweight. I've just started experimenting with it, but I like using it already.
• TextMate: My preferred text editor, I've been using TextMate for two and a half years and I think it's awesome, and well worth the $50 or so it costs.
• SQLite: My web site uses SQLite as its database. SQLite is simple to use and works well for small- to medium-sized sites.
• MySQL: Occasionally at work I use MySQL as a database. I'm pretty ambivalent about MySQL, I neither love nor hate it.
• PostgreSQL: Given the choice, for anything other than a small-ish blog, I'll usually go with PostgreSQL. The admin tools are easy to use and it has a lot of features lacking in MySQL.

There's not really tons about the toolkit I'd change. I have a variety of options and I'm happy with what I've got.

What Is My Opinion of Other Languages/Applications?

You've got to use what you know, I guess, but I've worked with a number of other languages and frameworks, and a lot of them fall short. For four years I worked as an ASP/VBScript web developer, and I'd never do it again. Don't listen to other people when they tell you that ASP.NET and VBScript.NET are awesome, because they're not.

I don't like PHP, either. It's not a well-designed or well-thought-out language, it is only useful for web development (e.g., Python and Ruby can be used outside of the web), and it lacks a lot of features that other languages support. It feels crippled. I wish it would just die.

What Is the Best Way to Learn Other Languages/Apps?

I think the best way to learn new languages or apps is to use them to build a project that you think is cool. For example, I liked Python a bit, so I ported my old ASP/VBScript-based blog to Django/Python so I could learn more Python and learn about the Django web framework. It's easier to learn by doing rather than just, e.g., reading.