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/