Guys, A big question! I am planning to learn a language but I dont know which language should I learn.. I know each language has its purpose..but am confused which language to start with! I am not a computer geek! The only language I know is C & C++.( Learned 3 years before so dizzy) Can you guys explain me which language is used for what? I want to learn language for two purpose... I am planning to make a web site based Engineering application which uses a set of database of values and calculations are performed... Its just in faint Idea... I want this application to be a web based. Hence people can log in and use the application...Which language should i learn... I want to make sure I learn a language which can have wide application & dont want to learn something which has limited applications... HOW ABOUT PHP?
You can learn - php as programming language and mysql as database engine - asp.net package with MS SQL db engine
All depends on how much money you would like to make in life The harder, less popular usually means the higher paying job. As in if you are building embedded AS400 applications or ASM applications talking directly to the hardware you will get a fat paycheck most likely vs. a higher language like PHP or HTML where the learning curve is extremely small and every kid knows it I'd say, just pick your poison on what interests you unless you want to base it on your salary...
+ 1 for PHP. If in future you'll want to sell your web apps, you'll find a wider market to which sell your applications.
You should start learning PHP. Its easy and its the most isefull for making websites and managing databases.
PHP is good if you are going to deal with such kinda stuff. But as far as I know, ASP is smoother to work with SQL database. If you are into scientific calculations etc., I think java would be all you need and more.
Like others on here, I would recommend PHP with MySQL as many database driven sites use this technology now. However, if you want to think bigger, ASP.net or Ruby on Rails would be viable options, especially if you had the aptitude to learn C and C++ proficiently.
I'd echo PHP and MySQL. But, I would think that learning PERL might be a real boon. Practical Extraction and Reporting Language. It interfaces easily w/ PHP, and there are many modules available to provide access to "new media" sites / apps (there is, for instance, a PERL module to access Twitter's API). Good useful stuff, and very open source. Learn all about regular expressions! You'll be better off in the long run. Cheers!