Which DHTML/database combo to learn?

Beginner seeks advice before sitting down to teach himself PHP or ASP or?

[narrowboater]

As a long-time lurker I've learned massive amounts from Webmaster World - what a fantastic community. Now I have a question of my own.

I want to teach myself the basics of DHTML/database site development so I can take my ideas and turn them into working prototypes. I'm not a programmer, but an ex ad agency creative who can already turn his hand to enough design, HTML and Javascript to put together 'mock ups' of sites which help me explore whether projects have potential or not before passing them on to 'proper' developers.

I'd like to go a step further now, giving myself enough knowledge to build a site which might, say, take input from a user then send them an SMS text message. Or another which delivered interactive tests/quizes. That sort of thing.

Before I set myself off, I wondered what some of the very bright people here would suggest I learn in terms of a DHTML/database combo? Should I go the open source PHP/MySQL way? Or perhaps ASP?

I have the 'luxury' of knowing nothing! I'll be starting from absolute zero. So which way should I go please?

Thanks very much indeed.

[photon]

It depends on how and why you're using them. If it's just for yourself, I'd recommend the PHP/MySQL route. After they're free and won't cost you anything. Just make sure that your host supports them (and/or that you can set up a server on your own system).

If you're looking to enhance your employment opportunities, then it would probably be better to go the ASP/.NET route.

[narrowboater]

Thanks Photon. Although I'm not doing it to help my job prospects as such (I'm an entrepreneur) your answer suggests to me that if I want to pass on my prototypes for someone else to work on, perhaps they would prefer me to use ASP/.NET?

Seems to me that ASP/.NET might be the way that businesses do sites, while PHP/MySQL is more likely to be adopted by non-business users.

Although maybe I'm reading the wrong things into your reply!

[ergophobe]

Seems to me that ASP/.NET might be the way that businesses do sites, while PHP/MySQL is more likely to be adopted by non-business users.

I don't think that's true at all. Some big airline sites and others are in php.

The biggest software company in the world, of course, uses asp ;-)

I don't do ASP but from previous discussions, I think people who know them all gave the edge to PHP over plain old ASP, but thought that the ASP/.NET platform was a big improvement.

Like photon said, it depends on what you want to do. It is quick, easy and free to get up and running with php/mysql. If you've done any C/C++ programming, it will look relatively familiar. It is feature rich and very easy to find hosting packages at a reasonable price that include php/mysql. So if you arelooking to build sites for your own use, it's the logical place to start.

Just a quick terminology note. PHP and ASP are used to create dynamic HTML pages, but DHTML is another thing altogether, namely "HTML extensions that will enable a Web page to react to user input without sending requests to the Web server" (dynamic HTML [webopedia.com], definition 2, in the webopedia [webopedia.com]).

Tom

[narrowboater]

Thanks Tom, and Photon. Between you, you've given me a lot of food for thought. I spent Saturday afternoon in the book store, exploring the PHP, ASP and ASP.NET sections.

As the complete novice that I am, I reached three conclusions from the many books on offer:

1. The ASP books seemed most heavy and programmer-oriented - lots of code but light on real-world examples which can make it easier for someone like me to get their head around things.

2. ASP.NET is still pretty new. Looks reasonably easy to learn although I found I had yet another option to choose from in terms of programming language: C#, VisualBasic...

3. The PHP section was the one which seemed to have books which were more user-friendly, and it also feels to me as though there are more PHP communities/script collections online than is the case for either ASP or ASP.NET

Thanks for the pointer on DHTML, Tom, I see my error!

Although I consider myself a reasonably adept learner, I've found the process of discovering which pool to dive into a pretty complex one.

I'd be tempted to take myself the PHP/MySQL route were it not for the fact that I'll need to pass my projects on to 'proper' programmers at some stage after prototyping them, and all the people I've spoken to who code for a living seem to know ASP but not PHP.

Maybe I'm just talking to the wrong people! Or maybe it doesn't even matter: if I build a rough site in PHP, any good programmer should be able to replicate it quickly (to make it more scaleable and robust for instance) in ASP if that's what they favour.

What do you think?

[timster]

PHP & MySQL get paired in people's minds, since they are often used together.

You may be interested that PHP connects easily to other common SQL databases, including Oracle, MSSQL, and PostreSQL.