considering switching from php to .net, questions

some concerns about switching and would like advice

[lampip]

I am currently developing a website using php. i have been reading about .net and am interested in potentially using it. The main reason i am considering using it is because my regular job (where i am a software engineer) has more and more .net projects and i thought it would be a good opportunity to learn it by using it for my home projects.

I have several concerns and would appreciate any thoughts you could give:

- don't seem to be as many hosts that support .net, i assume it requires IIS?
- cost, will i have to buy the .net framework, pay more for hosting, any costs? would i have to buy IIS to install at home for development? PHP and mysql are free, i have them installed at home for development.
- database, i currently use mysql, are there any good performing free drivers for mysql and .net? I don't want to buy sql.
- scripts and code availability. i have found tons of php code that does many things i need, are there as many communities for .net?
- payment gateways. i have seen many payment gateways with php api's, not as many with .net.
- complexity of development. php, while not the fastest, is fairly easy to develop in. i have seen many people say it is easier to develop in .net, why?

since i haven't been using .net some of my assumptions may be wrong. I would love to hear that there are good answers to all of the above because it does seem like a good environment.

sorry for the long thread, but i want to make the right decision before i go much further. i appreciate any information you can give.
peter

[idolw]

it is more expensive if you want to use any ready components. simply, you have to pay for everything.
for example, I wanted to buy a forum: .net one costs $900 while the one used by #*$! costs only $160.

in my country, .net people are more expensive and more rare to get. on the other hand, .net people are really smart guys and seem to be more creative than php guys and ladies.

[sharbel]

1) Yes, IIS is required, however the MONO project for LINUX servers does run ASP.NET too (not sure how that open-source project has progressed)

2) The .NET framework is free, as is the new IDE (which is quite nice).. you can go to www.asp.net to get it

3) Yes, you can get SQL Server express, which is free.. Keep in mind you can certainly user MySQL too.

4) Payment gateways are a none issue.. most use XML webservices or HTTP POSTs.. not at all platform dependant.

5) The .NET framework is much more robust than PHP. I develop in both frameworks, and prefer C# any day of the week.. plus the new Visual Studio .NET 2.0 is quite nice.

It really does come down to preferences a lot of times when you are choosing your development framework. I like .NET because C# is a great language, and I really enjoy programming server apps in Visual Studio. PHP (and ASP.OLD for that matter) always felt like I was 'hacking' or doing tricks to get a website to do what I wanted. Might sound stupid, but I really did feel that way. When .NET came out, it felt more like a programming enviornment with Code Behind and decent debugging.

[Easy_Coder]

I couldn't agree more with sharbels comments....

>I don't want to buy sql.
That will come with IIS for under $20 per month on most any standard IIS hosting agreement. I can sticky you with one if you need it.

>my regular job (where i am a software engineer)
If nothing else at least you'll get another language and technology under your belt.

[PayPal_dn]

And you can get lots of free ASP.NET code such as 'Commerce Starter Kit', a free, open source, storefront and shopping cart for C# and VB.NET