php for backend and html with some js sprinkled on top for the front. if you need more, use htmx.
Ask HN: What programming language do you think is the best for Web Applications?
31–40 of 42 posts
Re: Ask HN: What programming language do you think is the best for Web Applications?
#32Typescript. It's most utilizing the cutting edge web tech (Deno, Next, Serverless), succeeding in how best to deliver bytes between front-end and back-end (SSR, SSG, CSR, Edge, etc.), along with the biggest 3p ecosystem of packages/libraries you could find for almost all web and scripting tasks. You'll find no better integration with the front-end stacks rightfully used by almost all significant tech co's: React, Vue, Svelte.
There's a reason it's the biggest upward-trending lang:
https://insights.stackoverflow.com/trends?tags=typescript%2C...
Re: Ask HN: What programming language do you think is the best for Web Applications?
#33F#, I can target backend and frontend, using battle tested libraries.
Static typing that gets out of my way and has very good domain modeling capabilities.
Good enough tooling.
Scala as a close second!
Re: Ask HN: What programming language do you think is the best for Web Applications?
#34JavaScript is a highly productive for Web Applications, although I also heavily use other alternatives for several reasons, But regardless, that is why it is my candidate for the best programming language especially working with the Web and Web applications in general. Anything beyond that is either niches or outside general purpose web. JavaScript can do: - advance web applications (electron, NodeJS) - ETL on the go…
JS is ubiquitous. It's also a primitive, sloppily-designed language that has caused untold economic damage. It's not as bad a language as, say, Perl, but it might be the single biggest thing holding back the Web as a platform today. I do understand that it's not entirely fair to criticize it for being sloppy, since it was supposed to only be a stopgap to be used for a few years in the 1990s until the hypothetical bet…
I do love Perl and JS for the same reasons: You can write something and be sure it will keep working. It is not customary to introduce breaking changes.
Re: Ask HN: What programming language do you think is the best for Web Applications?
#35Python, with Django, and Django Rest Framework. Steep initial learning curve, but its integration of many features (including auto DB migrations), great docs, and long-term track record.
Re: Ask HN: What programming language do you think is the best for Web Applications?
#36Rust - https://rust-on-nails.com/
Nice, if this plays out. I've been using Django. Prefer Rust as an overall language, but it currently (prior to this) only has Flask analogs.
Re: Ask HN: What programming language do you think is the best for Web Applications?
#37The language doesn't matter, what does is your ability to deliver on user and business needs with the resources you have access to.
Often times that's more about a framework than a language, or about the level of abstraction you want to deal with on the backend, or how you intend to scale, and what sort of shop you're at and what kind of devs you have. More often than not, unless you're a greenfield project or a startup, some or all of those decisions have already been made.
Compare two different approaches...
One, a traditional LEMP stack with server side interactivity and rendering. You define every layer of the stack, managing everything from the database to the CDN yourself. You deliver HTML to browsers with a sprinkling of Javascript for pagination or whatever.
Two, a Jamstack running on something like Next and hosted on Vercel, using some sort of headless CMS maintained by another vendor.
(You can substitut LEMP with any similar stack, or Next with any other Jamstack framework in any language).
But the levels of abstraction there are very different, as are your dev and infrastructure costs, as is the user and developer experience. And ecosystem support, everything from third-party packages to Stack answers. Everything gets compiled down to shades of HTML and Javascript anyway, it doesn't really matter what you start out with. The stack and its ecosystem will have way more impact on your final experience.
Most web apps are light on fancy algorithms and heavy on presentation. You're usually building documents more than apps. The tradeoffs you encounter are often between interactivity and infrastructure. Whatever stack you choose that lets you focus on that, without sacrificing business needs, is a good choice.
Re: Ask HN: What programming language do you think is the best for Web Applications?
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
JS is ubiquitous. It's also a primitive, sloppily-designed language that has caused untold economic damage. It's not as bad a language as, say, Perl, but it might be the single biggest thing holding back the Web as a platform today. I do understand that it's not entirely fair to criticize it for being sloppy, since it was supposed to only be a stopgap to be used for a few years in the 1990s until the hypothetical bet…
I do love Perl and JS for the same reasons: You can write something and be sure it will keep working. It is not customary to introduce breaking changes.
...Do you write in lots of languages that add breaking changes without warning? I don't.
Re: Ask HN: What programming language do you think is the best for Web Applications?
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do love Perl and JS for the same reasons: You can write something and be sure it will keep working. It is not customary to introduce breaking changes.
...Do you write in lots of languages that add breaking changes without warning? I don't.
I have encountered it with many languages. There is usually a warning, but there is also a lack of consent on my part, and a lack of options to retain compatibility.
For example, with most Python-based projects I have tried, I have run into some kind of version incompatibility, and often have not been able to get them to run at all.
This is an experience I wanted to avoid for those who try my software.
Re: Ask HN: What programming language do you think is the best for Web Applications?
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
...Do you write in lots of languages that add breaking changes without warning? I don't.
I have encountered it with many languages. There is usually a warning, but there is also a lack of consent on my part, and a lack of options to retain compatibility. For example, with most Python-based projects I have tried, I have run into some kind of version incompatibility, and often have not been able to get them to run at all. This is an experience I wanted to avoid for those who try my software.
> Python
Aha, there's your problem.