Hi,
Currently we have a web application written in the providers own proprietary language / framework. Unfortunately, with it's limited syntax and "wonky" architecture its not great to work with.
With some really great development platforms out there (.NET, PHP, Ruby - note that I know nothing of PHP or Ruby but i've heard they are great :p) we would like to abstract away the web application from their data access code so that we can use anything we want to build the web application.
What I am proposing to them is that they give us a service layer written in a common development language that we can then use in our applications. Unfortunately for me (as a .net developer) I do not think they would choose to write this in c#.
So my question is this, what would one suggest the service layer be written in. Ideally it should be something that as a .net developer I will be able to pick up and even better the ability to use the service layer within .net or php applications (i've read a bit about Ruby.NET so believe this is possible?).
From my very quick glances at both Ruby on Rails and PHP I would say that Ruby appeals more to me (PHP seems a bit "scripty", but what do I know, I haven't used it).
Intestested to hear from developers who use both.
Thanks Ben