php vs python django or something else for CMS module

Question

We're looking to develop a CMS module for our website and I need some help in choosing the language/framework for this project. Basically we need to develop a "help' module like this one from ebay http://pages.ebay.com/help/index.html which will contain a lot of static pages with nice URLs for SEO. The application must run fast using low computer resources. We have been looking to use php on a custom made mvc framework but we received advice from other sources that py/django is the exactly language/framework that we need in terms of maintainability and development speed because it was developed for exactly this kind of projects so I need an expert advice on this matter with pro and cons for each choice.

Answer 1

I would not say that django was specially developed for this kind of project. There are also great frameworks in PHP like the Zend Framework or symfony, among others.

In the end it comes down to what your production servers offers (but I guess you are free here) and with which programming language you feel most comfortable.

But it is true that Python's structure and style of language makes it fast to program with. (But it probably makes no difference if you are able to program PHP in your sleep ;))

Answer 2

It comes down to what your programmer is comfortable with. If you don't have a programmer, find one and ask him/her what she's comfortable working with. The task you're describing seems pretty simple. It can all be done with straight php, python, ruby. Having used PHP, Java and Python, I have a preference for the latter. But as I said, the task is so simple that you can do it without problem in most languages. I suspect that you'll find much more developers familiar with PHP, so you might want to look in that direction.

As far as frameworks go, there again, I don't see much that would require the raw power of an entire framework.

• static pages: you need a cms, either custom built or something really lean and dead simple.
• clean urls can be achieved with url rewriting (e.g. apache modrewrite directives).

Again, hire the right developer and trust his/her input. Don't go and tell him/her how to work if you don't know how it's done.