What is the best framework for web-development to start with?

Question

I want to get into web-development and trying to pick a framework to playground with as well as a develop complex web-app.

I am considering the following:

• C# with ASP.NET MVC.
• Ruby on rails
• Tomcat/servlets/jsp

For now, I am planning to run it on windows, yet might migrate it to Linux. I want to his framework to be fairly intuitive to develop on, connect to db (probably mysql), good documentation. And as one of the user mentioned,

What development environment will force me to develop good programming habits and solid maintainable code?

How would you compare above frameworks?

As always, ther recommendations are welcome as well.

Thanks

Answer 1

Go with Ruby on Rails(RoR).

• It is easy (less is more)
• Portable
• Works well with mysql

Answer 2

This is pretty subjective, but JSP and friends are confusing as hell for a newbie. Don't know anything about RoR or .Net

Answer 3

On the Python side, you can get a simple CherryPy application up and running with just a few lines of code. Simplicity is the key word here, just as an example:

import cherrypy

class HelloWorld(object):
    def index(self):
        return "Hello World!"
    index.exposed = True

cherrypy.quickstart(HelloWorld())

Gives you a standalone python script file which runs its own HTTP server, built-in with your app and all admin around it.

Answer 4

Neither .NET nor JSP are frameworks in and of themselves. Rails is a framework (which I'm personally a fan of). In .NET, you'd probably end up using C# with ASP.NET MVC.

If you know any of the languages, that may not be a bad place to start. Otherwise, Rails is good. I've heard things about Django if you're interested in the Python side of life. Another idea might be to start with something with fewer layers of abstraction, like pure PHP, so that you have something of an idea of how HTTP works under the hood.

Answer 5

Well, no one mentioned it before so I will.

Why not PHP? With frameworks like CodeIgniter it's pretty easy to get started on web dev and there are a load of PHP web hosts avaliable, even cheap ones.

Answer 6

If migrating to Linux is a possibility, then I don't think C# is a great idea.

JSP is somewhat complicated. Wouldn't recommend.

Ruby on Rails is good, but requires you to delve into the "magic" to get complex tasks accomplished.

I'm looking into starting a Turbo Gears 2 project, which is a Python stack built on Pylons and other technologies.

Answer 7

If you are learning a new technology, you will be investing some time in it, so it is worth having a look at what job prospects you are likely to have with that skill in the future.

At the moment it seems there are quite a few jobs in asp.net and RoR.

If you choose ASP.NET, defently go for the new MVC framework and you will also learn about the .NET Framework and C# (unless you choose another language of course).

So I would recommend ASP.NET MVC.

Answer 8

Is there any language you know very well now and would like to keep using? If so, check out what frameworks are available with that language.

I prefer ASP.NET MVC, but have found that it's so loosely coupled that you need to really learn a bunch of stuff to build something using a proper stack with best practices. Now if you plan on building smaller "disposable" projects you can start with ASP.NET MVC and use Linq to SQL, the default membership provider and no IoC to get used to the framework and then later on add IoC and maybe switch ORM.

If you are learning the language at the same time as the framework, I'd recommend something where the whole stack is more or less included out of the box. I've heard good things about Django for example.

Answer 9

I would recommend Ruby on Rails. Watch the video on Creating a Blog in 15 Minutes. It's a great intro to the basic, and I think it shows off the power and ease of use that Rails has to offer.

Answer 10

I would vote for a Python based web framework. Have a look at Django. It's quite similar to Ruby on Rails, but Python is a much nicer language to learn (in my opinion) and the Python folk is quite nice and helpful. The Django documentation/tutorial is quite good, but you might also have a look a this Book

Answer 11

I'm not sure about your background, but if you're beginning with web development I'd recomend PHP. Like manitoba98 said, it's got less abstraction, and is a good starting point for web development. There is no need for compilation, you just upload the files to the server and can run them directly. If you want to run them locally, XAMPP installs in two minutes and works like a charm. It intergrates perfectly with mysql, has good documentation, and is widely used.

I personally found it easier to learn the server/client distinction when I started with PHP, back in ye olde days.

Answer 12

I think you're asking the wrong question as there are good solid frameworks available for all the common web languages. The question you should be asking is:

What development environment will force me to develop good programming habits and solid maintainable code?

With that in mind I'd go for Python, and probably Pylons. No question.

Rational? C# and Java are too complex to start with if you're not going to have any tuition and you'll spend an inordinate amount of time looking at the detail - too much so to grasp good overall style. Ruby/ROR is good, but perhaps a little bit to constrained for a first language, and the implementation on Windows is not yet optimal anyway. PHP has also been mentioned - which despite prejudice can be used to develop solid code, it just doesn't encourage it :-)

Python on the other hand will force you to adopt good style, has straightforward syntax, is widely supported and has high leverage - it gets things done fast.

Answer 13

for Java world, try: 1. Grails (groovy on rails ... just like ruby on rails but with flavour of java) 2. Tapestry (MVC as well) 3. Struts (MVC)

For php I would recommend YiiFramework, CakePhp or CodeIgniter ... how said that PHP are for bad boys :) I think php 5.3 getting better now

Answer 14

I'm a fellow "old school programmer/new school enthusiast", and I'm looking at ramaze instead of rails, as it seems like a better balance of flexibility and "magic".

http://ramaze.net/

Answer 15

Struts 2 is a solid MVC Framework for Java. I just started using it in June and I must say that I'm fairly impressed with it. The other one for Java that I would recommend is Java Server Faces. I have used that in the past, but I must say that I think I would use Struts 2 before Java Server Faces.

To support those MVC Frameworks I would suggest to use an ORM such as hibernate.

Answer 16

Ruby on Rails

I'd suggest you go with Ruby on Rails, because

• it's easy to learn, means you can start developing quite robust applications very quickly
• it's portable, so you can run it on both Windows and Linux

Another good reason is, that it's opensource, so you don't have to pay anything for licence, like with .NET.

Ruby on Rails also has nice integration with MySQL

As for the development environment, NetBeans have some really nice Ruby on Rails support.

ASP.NET

ASP.NET MVC is also a good choice, but the main drawback is when you want to make something commercial, you have to buy license, which aint cheap, so it's pretty hard to start working commercial on your own.

Django

Last option, that you didn't mention is Django, which is mostly like Python version of Rails (yep, I'm gonna burn in hell for saying this). Both Django and Ruby on Rails follow MVC, so it's matter of taste.

JSP

I don't suggest starting with JSP, because it doesn't force any good programming habbits.

Answer 17

There's no final answer to this question. Most will simply cite their prior experience and make their preferred look attractive. I'm using Stripes with Tomcat and IntelliJ IDEA for IDE. Cannot be happier. Easy to learn, fast to develop and a powerful language (Java).