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Adventures with .NET (Almost)

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:41 am
by omniuni
So I decided that to make myself more valuable, I would try to learn ASP.NET.

One problem: how!?

My desktop/server runs Linux, my laptop runs Linux, and I really, REALLY don't want to install a Windows XP Virtual Machine JUST so I can use Visual Web Developer *gag* to learn ASP.NET.

This should be an interesting question over on the ASP.NET forums.

Sidenote: They use TinyMCE, which is the only nice thing about them. PHPBB is an infinitely better forum system.

So, does anyone have any recommendations for me? I somehow doubt that the actual .NET forums will be of much use. I'm sort of doubting they'll even approve my post asking for help.

Re: Adventures with .NET (Almost)

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:50 am
by omniuni
Here's a link to my post on the ASP.NET forum: http://forums.asp.net/t/1446201.aspx :crazy:

Just a quote from my last post so you see what's going on:
...I need variables, control structures, logic, accessing GET and POST data, and preferably an introduction on functions, classes, and scope control...
This assumes I'm talking about an actual programming language, of course.

Re: Adventures with .NET (Almost)

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:31 am
by omniuni
My last, current post on the subject. No one seems to have any good answers when it comes to why I SHOULD try ASP/.NET
Mr^B:

If you want to create a simple dynamic website on $0 budget, you'd be insanse to use anything other than PHP + MySQL.

If you want to create robust multi-tier, scalable, large-scale corporate applications, you'd be insanse to use anything other than .Net or Java (+framework), with SQL Server, Oracle or Sybase.
On your first point, I'll be happy to agree with you. PHP and MySQL are a powerful combination. Really, I have to question your second point. PHP is used regularly for "robust multi-tier, scalable, large-scale corporate applications" unless you don't count Yahoo, or Youtube, or other such sites in that category. When you're talking databases, don't forget about PostgreSQL which is quite possibly faster and more capable than SQL Server, Oracle, or Sybase. (Though Oracle is pretty cool!) I was hoping that in my venture into the .NET way, I would find a world of efficiency speed and power that I had somehow missed. Instead, I've found something that even presumably experienced programmers would call "madness in a jar" without making use of specific tools and the entire framework. Django is a framework, but you can still build a small, efficient, website in pure Python. Ruby on Rails is a framework, but you can still build a small, efficient, website in pure Ruby. PHP is a web programming language, designed to let you build even moderately complex websites without a framework, but despite that, various frameworks exist, and can be used to great effect. It's true, PHP/MySQL can struggle under some particularly heavy loads (although most of the time this can be fixed by switching from Apache to something like Lightppd), but Ruby and Python, and (yuck) Java in some cases, can provide the rest of this flexibility.

Why did I want to learn ASP/C#.NET? I like programming, and I like programming from the ground up. My existing knowledge indicated that the.NET family of languages would give me a more structured and powerful way of creating websites, while still allowing me the flexibility to choose the elements that I would later use to construct a framework, or choose to use specific pieces of the .NET framework. I've written my own CMS in PHP, and I would have intended for a very basic CMS to be my first project in .NET. Unfortunately, I come from a community, where you can choose your own IDE, select your framework or work without one, and where people regularly discuss things like how to faster concatenate strings, and the importance of randomization. .NET sadly proved to be exactly what I've feared; a corporate driven platform, tied to corporate products, that is "free" in only the loosest sense of the word. Debate if you want, or sensor this post if you will, but I have my answer. I'd rather learn Ruby.

By the way, I love the use of Open Source TinyMCE, but why are these forums so slow? PHPBB kicks in terms of speed!