What is the best language to write web 2.0 applications in?

-PHP is a popular language for database driven sites.


-Java is used for "AJAX" websites.


-Ruby on Rails is getting a lot of attention.


-Python is very popular in some circles.





What is the best language to write web 2.0 applications in and why?

What is the best language to write web 2.0 applications in?
Since Web 2.0 has more to do with methodology than technology, any grouping of technology that serves the purpose of making your site interactive, collaborative and customizable pretty much fits the bill.





Which means, basically, any server-side language will work fine, provided you approach the problem with a good solution.





AJAX is just jargon for HTML, JavaScript and any old server-side scripting language, be it PHP, ASP.NET, JSP, Python, Perl, Ruby, whatever.





You do need a server-side language to help you serve AJAX; which you decide to use depends on a variety of factors, and no one language is better than another.





Java is not used for AJAX Web sites, as you state. Java is another server-side scripting language that is every bit as suitable for use in AJAX as any other server-side language.
Reply:Java+ Ajax - its best





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me uses for Ajax interactions are the following:





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Real-time form data validation: Form data such as user IDs, serial numbers, postal codes, or even special coupon codes that require server-side validation can be validated in a form before the user submits a form. See Realtime Form Validation for details.


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Autocompletion: A specific portion of form data such as an email address, name, or city name may be autocompleted as the user types.


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Load on demand: Based on a client event, an HTML page can fetch more data in the background, allowing the browser to load pages more quickly.


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Sophisticated user interface controls and effects: Controls such as trees, menus, data tables, rich text editors, calendars, and progress bars allow for better user interaction and interaction with HTML pages, generally without requiring the user to reload the page.


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Refreshing data and server push: HTML pages may poll data from a server for up-to-date data such as scores, stock quotes, weather, or application-specific data. A client may use Ajax techniques to get a set of current data without reloading a full page. Polling is not the most effecient means of ensuring that data on a page is the most current. Emerging techniques such as Comet are being developed to provide true server-side push over HTTP by keeping a persistent connection between the client and server. See this blog entry on Comet using Grizzly for more on the development of server push with Java technology.


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Partial submit: An HTML page can submit form data as needed without requiring a full page refresh.


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Mashups: An HTML page can obtain data using a server-side proxy or by including an external script to mix external data with your application's or your service's data. For example, you can mix content or data from a third-party application such as Google Maps with your own application.


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Page as an application: Ajax techniques can be made to create single-page applications that look and feel much like a desktop application. See the article on the use of Ajax and portlets for more on how you can use portlet applications today.





Though not all-inclusive, this list shows that Ajax interactions allow web applications to do much more than they have done in the past.





http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalA...
Reply:Well from everything I have done and seen, I'll say PHP and Ajax are both VERY VERY good choices to get your hands dirty in.





PHP is easy to learn and practice with because it is free. I don't know anything about AJAX except I keep seeing it EVERYWHERE, especially when reading about what web 2.0 is in the first place!
Reply:Java and Ajax are client side scripts (they are executed by the browser), while the others are server side scripts (they are sent to the server, and the result sent back to the browser).





All of them are are popular. I don't really think it counts, as long as you respect the basic guidelines of web 2.0