Which programming lingo is best?

Question

Hi all

Can any one advice me which prgramming lingo to pick up?

I work in a school wtih abt 1000 students and my head wants me to pick up some programming skills which would help create some interface like.....

students input their Id number and get a password which is auto generated by the application or some students get signed up to a elective lesson but the list auto stops accepting when the class is full.

most of our applications are going to work from the school website and use the students database

i would value yr suggestion, i have no programming exp only basic html.

Thank you

Answer 1

It would be best to probably use PHP, if you only have basic html, you are going to need more experience. I would not suggest trying php until you are advanced in html.

Answer 2

Actually the language you decide to use is going to be driven by what you schools web server is able to provide....

No point in learning ASP or the new Visual Web Developer if your application cannot be used on your schools server because it doesn't support ASP....

So first step is to find out what your schools server will support.... ASP, PERL, PHP and what data base is available MySQL, SQLserver, MSAccess.

If you want to set up an Intranet Web server using Appache (free) and PERL you will have a system that can be accessed via a web browser within the schools network. The server would have to be placed on the network with a static IP address and the site name would have to be added to each of the schools PC's HOSTS file. The hosts file resolves the IP address (192.168.1.125 for eaxmple) to whatever name you choose to associate it to.



You can do a similar project as a Windows Application. This will further limit its use to a local network(intranet) and PC's which have the VB front End installed. This requires a VB application running on each machine and a link to a shared network drive to the database.

A visual basic (VB2005 express is free) program may be used as a front end to either a MS Access or SQLserver data base. (I would recommend using SQL Server Express as it is free)

Answer 3

Wow, that is a huge project. How many hours do you want to spend learning? Seems like an unrealistic request if you don't have a lot of programming experience. I think you should download a "Starter Kit", a prefabricated website.
A Teacher Starter Kit.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/sql/starterkit/default.aspx#teacher

Great video selection of how to use Visual Web Developer(VWD), SQL, and Code behind. Don't use AJAX if you're a beginner. Keep it simple first. Watch:Videos for ASP.NET 2.0 Beginners. Which is in the link below.

http://www.asp.net/learn/videos/default.aspx?tabid=63#ajax

Mark G., the post below me has a good point. I know if they have appache, they can install MONO and it will support asp.