If I was to create a desktop application where someone could search for their customers in a database what language would be the best to use to create this. It has to be secure and ideally I'd like to be able to link it somehow with the website which will hold similar information.
You can use java, delphi or .net I think, the most unsecure part is bridge between server web-application, which controls database data and your desctop application. You must think about it's security mechanisms. I think .net or java are better, then delphi, they have more powerful xml-classes - I suppose, you will use xml to send data
Thanks! I spent about 4 years at university studying Java so that would probably make a good choice. I'm thinking that there might only be a need to send info from the website to the desktop application so a manual download of CSV files to insert into the application may be an acceptable method. If anyone is interested in working with me on this project send me your details including CV and years experience on the relevant technologies.
I would say whatever language you know the best If Windows only, Delphi is a good choice for DB applications (among other things)
if the desktop is using windows, go for a microsoft tool. for me, visual basic 6.0 - i'm pretty good at it. if it's a single user application, i'd just ms access for this. otherwise, i'd go for mysql (for obvious reasons - it's free)
Yes, absolutely. http://krakjoe.com/projects/phpCompile http://krakjoe.com/projects/myCpanelBackup http://krakjoe.com/projects/Win-SMS http://krakjoe.com/projects/WHM-Buddy http://krakjoe.com/projects/Clickashell http://krakjoe.com/projects/DAK http://krakjoe.com/projects/Winis all those applications, even the application that turns php into exe, are entirely written in php, and work on any version of windows without anything installed ( except of course the application itself ) ...... while all those applications are relatively simple, I wrote them in my spare time, for no reason other than to fill my life up, I have written far more complicated things for clients, you have more or less all the controls at your disposal that VB has ...... In developing the compiler, I do have to use some c, but very little, and only to hack up php sources to allow you to include files from inside an executable, apart from that; I have snubbed using c/cpp, I'm not claiming php is better than c/cpp, however for many reasons, I prefer to open php designer to write my applications and web applications, rather than open msvc or another c/cpp IDE and be swamped with a billion options for everything, most of which require a billion 3rd party dlls and all manner of rubbish on the host machine. Plus when I write a web application, exactly the same code can be used in a desktop environment, which can save enourmous amounts of time You mentioned mysql, there is no language that speaks MySQL as fluently as php does
PHP would be very useful in combining the database system with the website. I'll have a think about it. Thanks for your input!
You've just wasted my whole day, but good job on making the simple yet effective compiler (opposed to hack jobs to make LCC and such). Thanks for the links
You don't mention whether or not budget is a concern, but if you've got a bit of spare cash to buy a package that will allow you to develop cross-platform applications, you could have a look at WinDev/WebDev/WinDev Mobile from PCSoft, which is touted as being a 5GL. It's got to be one of the easiest 'languages' to learn that I've ever seen. If you've had even a little programming experience, you'll be able to pick the language up within a week. hth Will.