On Thu, Mar 31, 2005 at 10:04:30PM -0500, NCR Lab wrote: > However, I'm getting a bit tired of doing the command-line thing, so > i've been looking at python and perl and trying to figure out which > would be better to create a web-based interface to enter data and > display queries. Or maybe I should just use php? I would second the suggestion for PHP. If you are just getting your feet wet with web programming PHP is a logical choice since it streamlines some things for you. You can start out by simply including some code in your HTML source, and gradually build up to where you are building a complete web application. That said, I think that python and perl have a great deal more versatility for building non-web applications. If you are looking for a language that you can learn and use for other tasks I would recommend looking at Python (just my preference). If you are looking for the right tool for this particular job you have in front of you I'd investigate using PHP. Learning PHP by O'Reilly is a good book to start with. If you are feeling adventurous it might also be worthwhile considering ruby and the ruby-on-rails [1] web framework. ruby is a youngest language in the same family as python and perl. rails has been getting a lot of press in the past year for its elegance and simplicity. That said it probably appeals most to people who are fed up with other web frameworks :) //Ed [1] http://www.rubyonrails.org/