How can I develop a database for users to access via a browser

Question

Years ago (pre-web) I used to be a Fortran developer (yes it was a very long time ago!) but these days I run a small non-IT business. I would like to develop a database application for my clients to access via a browser (or maybe down the line via a mobile phone). I haven't done any programming for a while apart from some VB macros in Microsoft Excel. I would be grateful if anyone could suggest the best language/technology to learn to get me heading in the right direction.

Answer 1

As Neil said in his comments there are dozens of different, valid answers to this.

Usually I would suggest going with a language you already know, but neither Fortran or VBA are really suited for this task, as far as I know.

Personally I would suggest Django, which is a web framework written in Python. It simplifies many common tasks and it is very well documented.

But there are many more possible solutions.

Answer 2

Before I started with a framework I'd break the problem into pieces. If you've never done anything with a database before you'll find that challenging enough without piling web or mobile on top of it.

Model your problem and get a good object or data model in place. Test that thoroughly without thinking about UI. Once you have that, perhaps you can expose it as services that any UI can call.

You'll quickly become overwhelmed if you try to do it all at once.

Here's another thought: If these are paying customers, why not do yourself and them a favor and hire someone that knows how to do this? It's great that you used to write Fortran, but if you haven't kept up you won't be doing your business any good by putting out a bad first effort for customers to see.

Do it right - get a professional. Do your learning on your own time.

Answer 3

You can use ASP.NET and SQL Server to get something online that will allow users to edit a database table fairly easily. They've simplified it to the point where you can drag and drop the necessary controls (GridView and a SqlDataSource for instance) and define your datasource in a wizard for most simple table CRUD functionality. Basically give users the ability to edit a table without writing any code.

If you need to do something a little more difficult it's easy to write code that will add functionality to the original drag/drop stuff you did.

There are lots of good resources out there for asp.net and C# also, so it will help you get up to speed quickly.

Keep in mind that I work almost entirely with .NET/SQL Server so my opinion will be slanted towards them...