I am a c++ developer trying to create a web application using a language or framework that meets the following criteria:
Can anyone suggest a language or framework that would be beneficial, giving this criteria?
It depends on the type of audience and the type of data you are dealing with. For in-house business application, you might want to pick something like ASP.NET for component support. For simpler stuff, you can go for php or rails.
GWT - Google Web Tool kit
It is a java framework which compiles the java code into HTML and javascript. Widgets(Controls) make up the web application and you can create your own widget easily.
It covers all modern technologies of web, e.g. AJAX and rich client side behavior. and Java syntax is similar to C++.
PHP
The application you described is similar to WordPress open source project.
Check out wordpress home
I'll go ahead and put the word in for django.
Which is sometimes called python's answer to rails.
I've recently had the chance to do some ruby programming and if your coming in new to either language I think ruby or python are pretty easy to step into.
Whatever you pick make sure the tools are well documented. I haven't looked into rails and ruby enough to be familiar with the documentation available, but I've been pretty impressed with the django and python documentation available.
Here's a site that lists sites in django, so you can check out what type of sites people are making using django.
Since Django and Rails are a bit similar in their approach I would base on decision: which language do you like more? Does Ruby has bigger appeal to you than Python? Does it have some impact knowing that Python/Django has bigger community?
Python has support in Visual Studio platforms (see IronPython) but Ruby is heavily developped for JVM (see JRuby). Which platform is closer to your heart?
After you choose that - the rest is easy.
Can you give more details about the app? It might not seem relevant, but it often is. For instance, if you're just building a simple CMS with some custom bells&whistles wordpress would probably be the way to go. It had a pretty good plugin architecture, plenty of docs & support, and powers a good number of sites with ease.
However, if its a little more custom, I'd say for very rapid application building you can't go too wrong with Ruby on Rails. Personally I'm (very) not a fan, but there are lots of tutorials & forums to get help with both the language and framework. Ruby Gems are a nice touch, too. Saying that, I wouldn't choose it for anything which is going to get a lot of traffic, at least not until maglev is out.
Another problem with Ruby is that you'd have to learn a new language... not good if you just want productivity. You can get things done quickly in PHP but its often messy... you could maybe try groovy if you're happy to run on the java vm... again, its all based around how much you're willing to move from your comfort zone and what the project entails.
You can achieve results very quickly using Spring WebFlow - it's a declarative MVC framework where you have just write your model classes (something similar you write in OO classes) and thin service layer. The user interaction logic is written in simple xml. Just have a look at the reference application source code.
Well, it depends. You could choose:
HTH
Artur brings up good points I personally like Drupal as I am versed in PHP with some C background. I found Drupal to be the best fit for some of my most recent projects. Short article on dilemma of choice: http://topcweb.com/content/content-management-system-overload I also recently heard Django is great as well as Drupal assumes a decent amount. My favorite part about Drupal is the extensive amount of modules.