"Best" Language

[auxone]

In your professional opinion, which language is the best to know for web application development using technologies like ASP and ADO in .NET?

I grew up on C and some C++ but lately I've been leaning more towards C#, however I don't have the time to become intimate with all of them so I was hoping to get some advice as to which is gaining/losing popularity.

Also, can one make a career on just sticking with Microsoft technologies? Or would it be advantageous to learn both ASP and PHP?

Thanks

[apeace]

I definitely think you should consider learning PHP. You CAN make a career out of Microsoft languages...but I wouldn't recommend it. Due to the nature of Computer Science and the speed at which companies can grow, the best jobs at the best companies can come and go.

As for your original question, I think you've answered it yourself! If ASP is what you want, go ASP. I have heard some people say that C# is a neat language, so checking out C# .NET might be beneficial too.

Hope this helps!

[chazzy]

the .NET framework provides a highly robust framework for building apps, and operates considerably differently from how PHP works. The old ASP vs. PHP debate was based on the older ASP version, before the .NET framework came out and everything moved to ASP.NET.

Reasons why you'd like .NET:
- Object-Oriented programming model that's similar to C++
- You can actually write C++ applications still (just need to compile using the .NET compiler)
- The ability to mix and match languages, where you can write some libraries in C#, some in VB, some in another language, and they all run in the same ASP.NET application.
- Cool features like LINQ.
- If you want to go open source, there's the Mono project.

Reasons why you'd like PHP:
- Functional code style, similar to what you'd see in C
- lightweight, rapid application development.

To be honest, I'm not sure if there's a huge future for PHP. I feel like it's lost a lot of luster in the last few years.

I, personally, prefer C# over VB. I prefer c-style languages. I think C#, in the long run, is going to prove to be the superior .NET language, since most programmers seem to prefer the syntax, with VB becoming more RAD friendly.