What Scripting/Programming Languages are best to use in 2010?

[Anonymous]

Hi All

I havent used MapGuide since MG5, just getting back into it.
Back in MG5 i was using JavaScript and ColdFusion, i see things
have moved on to PHP (unfortunate for me).
So what are people using, Java, PHP?
Also is it possible to use Adobe Flex, I see that there is an ESRI
extension or API for Flex.

Thanks
Garry

[sakkaku]

.Net is also supported "out of the box".

The APIs are automatically generated from the same C++ API and wrapped into the target language via SWIG (I may be wrong about this though). So theoretically you might be able to get wrappers for perl, ruby and python or any of the other languages swig supports if you felt like pulling your hair out and castrating yourself trying to get it to work.

We started off on Mapguide 4 or 5 all the way to 6.5 before migrating to 2008. IMO the new API has much more functionality at the cost of more time in development. At the same time some things are simplified (for instance passing coordinates/zoom instead of an id for zoomto, so you don't need a zoomto for every feature). Some of the design decisions make me want to pull my hair out at times though (like passing base64 encoded numbers of different bytelengths in selection XML without specifying the type, when XML should be human readable to begin with). Unwrapping the API and squinting in vain to see where the logic is can be fun at times.

[Anonymous]

I suppose one question i have is.

Where is server side scripting at, if i am looking
for a job as a MapGuide developer, will ASP or PHP

be better on my CV.

Personally i think if you understand scripting, it
shouldn't matter.

Garry

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<sakkaku> wrote in message
href="news:6200967@discussion.autodesk.com">news:6200967@discussion.autodesk.com...

.Net
is also supported "out of the box". The APIs are automatically generated from
the same C++ API and wrapped into the target language via SWIG (I may be wrong
about this though). So theoretically you might be able to get wrappers for
perl, ruby and python or any of the other languages swig supports if you felt
like pulling your hair out and castrating yourself trying to get it to work.
We started off on Mapguide 4 or 5 all the way to 6.5 before migrating to 2008.
IMO the new API has much more functionality at the cost of more time in
development. At the same time some things are simplified (for instance passing
coordinates/zoom instead of an id for zoomto, so you don't need a zoomto for
every feature). Some of the design decisions make me want to pull my hair out
at times though (like passing base64 encoded numbers of different bytelengths
in selection XML without specifying the type, when XML should be human
readable to begin with). Unwrapping the API and squinting in vain to see where
the logic is can be fun at times.

[sakkaku]

In all likelihood it will depend on what the employer prefers. PHP and ASP.Net are probably going to be used in the majority of cases. For the most part the APIs are identical between them, so you could switch between them pretty easily (PHP -> ASP/C# usually just involves removing $s and converting "->" to '.'). With ASP you will get auto complete on the API (VS express is pretty decent, while I have only seen a few good PHP IDEs), and the forms are automatically mapped to objects. So it can make life a bit easier for you. Then again I haven't tried using the API with a high end framework, so things might be just as easy with something like codeigniter, zend, etc.

I am personally biased against PHP. So you probably will be able to find a few people who have more experience and love for it then I am capable of displaying.

[Anonymous]

(PHP -> ASP/C# usually just involves removing $s and converting "->" to
'.').

Well this comment has answered my question, i didn't want going to the
trouble of
learning ASP and then being told to "Get with it man, everyone is on PHP".
I have been watching some of the Lynda.com ASP tutorials and what i see is
really fast and dynamic and maybe possible for a non computer gradaute
tile myself.
Thanks for the info.

Garry

wrote in message news:6206209@discussion.autodesk.com...
In all likelihood it will depend on what the employer prefers. PHP and
ASP.Net are probably going to be used in the majority of cases. For the
most part the APIs are identical between them, so you could switch between
them pretty easily (PHP -> ASP/C# usually just involves removing $s and
converting "->" to '.'). With ASP you will get auto complete on the API (VS
express is pretty decent, while I have only seen a few good PHP IDEs), and
the forms are automatically mapped to objects. So it can make life a bit
easier for you. Then again I haven't tried using the API with a high end
framework, so things might be just as easy with something like codeigniter,
zend, etc.

I am personally biased against PHP. So you probably will be able to find a
few people who have more experience and love for it then I am capable of
displaying.

[sakkaku]

That was referring to the mapguide API within those languages. Form handling, sessions, etc is going to be drastically different.

For instance ASP has many controls that save their state (ie a listbox can retain the selection and items between requests), while in PHP you would need to regenerate them for each page load. Also you can access form controls to get their text, visibility, etc via their class instantiation.