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Ask HN: Scalable framework for web apps?

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Ask HN: Scalable framework for web apps?

#1
I'm planning to build on my new idea and would like to know which web framework is scalable to build a web app on. My choices of languages are PHP, Python and Ruby. I wouldn't mind a long learning curve.

I have worked on CakePHP for a couple of projects and tried Django on my localhost. But would like to know if you guys find anything else that's interesting and better. How about RoR?

Re: Ask HN: Scalable framework for web apps?

#2
I'll give my top recommendation for each language you named. I have used all 3 of these with great success. I have also used competitors for each of them.

* PHP - Kohana

* Python - Django

* Ruby - Merb

I used many PHP frameworks a while back and eventually settled on CodeIgniter (which is very good). After Kohana spun off from CI, it began to gain advantages and has continued to.

I've used Pylons and TurboGears before settling on Django. It's quite fast, and can be made faster when paired with psyco.

I used Rails for a long time before approaching Merb. I have followed its development since shortly after the pastie that Ezra made of the initial code. Merb is making a lot of great choices and is and will be my framework of choice.

Re: Ask HN: Scalable framework for web apps?

#3
Scalability is the last thing you need to be worried about. Worry about the business model. If you get the business model right, and you have scalability problems (i.e. "Oh shucks there are too many people trying to pay me money!"), then you can just pay to get them resolved.

Re: Ask HN: Scalable framework for web apps?

#4
If you're looking for flexibility, give Pylons a shot. It's often paired with SQLAlchemy, which is an amazing ORM that can be configured to do a lot of things which will make scaling easier in the long run. (Whereas Django doesn't have multiple database support, for instance; SQLAlchemy can even handle sharded data transparently.)

Re: Ask HN: Scalable framework for web apps?

#5
post #2

I'll give my top recommendation for each language you named. I have used all 3 of these with great success. I have also used competitors for each of them. * PHP - Kohana * Python - Django * Ruby - Merb I used many PHP frameworks a while back and eventually settled on CodeIgniter (which is very good). After Kohana spun off from CI, it began to gain advantages and has continued to. I've used Pylons and TurboGears befor…

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Re: Ask HN: Scalable framework for web apps?

#6
post #2

I'll give my top recommendation for each language you named. I have used all 3 of these with great success. I have also used competitors for each of them. * PHP - Kohana * Python - Django * Ruby - Merb I used many PHP frameworks a while back and eventually settled on CodeIgniter (which is very good). After Kohana spun off from CI, it began to gain advantages and has continued to. I've used Pylons and TurboGears befor…

I don't know why but I just like using variety of languages. I enjoy the learning different stuff. After 3 years with PHP, I developed an app for a contest a while ago on Google App Engine using web.py. That was my first shot with developing a python web app. I'll give Django a try later. But since my web app deals with developing for plugins go blog engines, I guess I have to deal with some Python blog engines too.

Now since you mentioned Merb, I'm going with Merb. Just tried Ruby online on http://tryruby.hobix.com Seemed cool, so I'm sticking with Ruby this time.

Merb seems to have some problem with Windows XP. I get an error while installing it. But it's just the docs that generate the error. The main package installed. merb 1.0.3

P.S: Does trying out too many languages often make me a bad programmer? Should I stick to one stack of technology and learn new stuff as the trend changes or do I continue to do what I love to do?

Re: Ask HN: Scalable framework for web apps?

#7
post #2

I'll give my top recommendation for each language you named. I have used all 3 of these with great success. I have also used competitors for each of them. * PHP - Kohana * Python - Django * Ruby - Merb I used many PHP frameworks a while back and eventually settled on CodeIgniter (which is very good). After Kohana spun off from CI, it began to gain advantages and has continued to. I've used Pylons and TurboGears befor…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Scalable framework for web apps?

#8
post #2

I'll give my top recommendation for each language you named. I have used all 3 of these with great success. I have also used competitors for each of them. * PHP - Kohana * Python - Django * Ruby - Merb I used many PHP frameworks a while back and eventually settled on CodeIgniter (which is very good). After Kohana spun off from CI, it began to gain advantages and has continued to. I've used Pylons and TurboGears befor…

I don't know why but I just like using variety of languages. I enjoy the learning different stuff. After 3 years with PHP, I developed an app for a contest a while ago on Google App Engine using web.py. That was my first shot with developing a python web app. I'll give Django a try later. But since my web app deals with developing for plugins go blog engines, I guess I have to deal with some Python blog engines too.…

IMHO, knowledge of multiple languages is usually a sign of a _good_ programmer. Keep at it.

Re: Ask HN: Scalable framework for web apps?

#9
post #3

Scalability is the last thing you need to be worried about. Worry about the business model. If you get the business model right, and you have scalability problems (i.e. "Oh shucks there are too many people trying to pay me money!"), then you can just pay to get them resolved.

Just make sure you hire the right people. This appears to have been Twitter's problem, and it took them awhile to fix it.

Experience counts.

Re: Ask HN: Scalable framework for web apps?

#10
+1 for Pylons. We're currently serving around 20 million dynamic requests a day via pylons from a handful of servers; pylons probably won't be your bottleneck.

What I like about it: python, promotes good code organization, relatively small code base (you can just read the source code if you're not sure how something works), and for the most part it stays out of your way.

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