Rarely does a day go by, that I do not receive an article in my email or among the many RSS feeds I monitor, that compares various Internet software development tools and frameworks. Inevitability, the comments following the comparison turn into a war of words between the two camps compared. Each believes its framework or tool is the best. What strikes me is that rarely are the project requirements included in the discussion. It always seems to be based on the concept that there is one right framework for everything, and I cannot disagree with that more. Over my thirteen years of developing Internet applications I’ve used Perl, PHP, ASP, Javascript, XML, XSL, and Java (using JSPs, Servlets, Struts, WebWork). Now I’m learning and writing a applications with Ruby on Rails. Though Java has been my focus for the last nine years, I recently changed the title I prefer to use. No longer do I refer to myself as a Java Developer/Architect. Instead, I identify myself as being in the industry of Internet Software Development and Design. While the difference in the terms may seem insignificant, it is actually quite substantial.

There was a time when I believed Java was the only language anyone should use to write Internet software, but eventually I realized you can’t make that claim for any development framework. They all have their pros and they all have their cons. I don’t pick what is latest and greatest, because the latest is never guaranteed to be the greatest. Neither do I ignore the latest in defense of what I currently feel comfortable with. I do choose what fits my personality, what I enjoy working with, and what is best for the project at hand, including the ability to meet very tight deadlines. The key is: matching the language and the framework to the project. Many factors contribute to this selection. Here are some situations and the frameworks I generally use for each.

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Seth Godin is a best-selling author and entrepreneur and writes very insightful books on the topics of marketing, entrepreneurs, and personal success. In this article Seth outlines ten very simple components of a great web site. The list is well thought out and what amazes me is how many of these items I routinely see ignored on the Internet and how many of these points have been ignored by clients and/or companies I’ve worked with in developing web sites over the years.
The good news is that while there are over 50 million new web sites every year, the majority of them are the exact opposite of this list and become complete failures. You can still stand out in the crowd by creating a truly great web site.

Read Seth Godin’s, How to create a great website.