[VarHyid]

Hi all,

first off, yeah, I know "best" is relative, but I'm really stuck now and need to be pointed in some direction and the fact that I'm asking here is because I've failed to find the answer via Google + checking some languages out.

Here's the situation - I'm NOT a programmer. I know HTML+CSS and PHP which I can use to communicate with a MySQL database and make some "interactive" stuff this way, but obviously PHP alone doesn't really allow any truly interactive stuff and require reloading the page for most of the time (at least as far as I know), I really need to finally learn some "real" web programming language which will allow me to do what I'm planning.

To not go into details, but give you an idea what I want to do, I want a website (call it web-app?) with an interface that would NOT require reloading the page each time someone makes an input (click->save->return saved view) and that would allow dragging and dropping stuff around (press->drag->drop->save->return saved view)... oh and it should communicate with a database in the process. Now, I've been avoiding JavaScript for almost 10 years (don't ask) and I'm afraid that it just might be the best solution so could someone please tell me if that's true. Could I achieve what I just described with JavaScript or a combination of JavaScript with PHP or should I go for a different language like... idk... Perl, Python etc.

I really would like to keep avoiding JavaScript as it's sooo.... ugly i.cant.stand(reading)this; What would you suggest for a non-programmer with such little knowledge as I have to learn. Note - I'm not going to try becoming a programmer anyway so it's not really a matter of "in what order I should learn more languages", but just which 1 would be the most "universal" or "best". I could create what I want just with PHP already, but it really MUST have an easy UI and be truly interactive without reloading otherwise it completely misses the point.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions even if you'd force me to learn JavaScript after all

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Any advice? Anyone?

[VarHyid]

Any advice? Anyone?

[SwitchCase]

Try Java. Use the Netbeans IDE for GUI's(Its soo easy. Just Drag and Drop).

[Nahumi]

Hello VarHyid,

My suggestion would be to use the jQuery library. Although it's Javascript, you should feel pretty comfortable using it after using PHP.

W3CSchools is always a good place to get a basic feel for any language :
http://www.w3schools.com/

Specifically for your UI requirements, there's two ways you can make a page feel interactive. The simplest way is to use AJAX, or Asynchronous Javascript And XML. Using jQuery and AJAX will let you reload specific parts of the page, make calls to other PHP scripts and print the return on the screen, almost anything really.

The second method is to program the whole thing in Javascript and jQuery. Personally I never go for this option because it doesn't gel well with accessing databases. You'll still need to use AJAX at some point to talk with the server, so you may as well go for the easier option above.

You might also want to consider using jQuery UI, a jQuery addon library, for the finishing touches of your UI. You can use nice dialogue boxes, date pickers and a whole bunch of other features to polish off your web app.


If you don't mind me asking, what will your web app do? Why is it essential to have it completely interactive?


Cheers,
Nahumi

Edited by Nahumi, 04 May 2012 - 04:00 PM.

[VarHyid]

Thanks for your answers

This question is a bit out-of-date already as I've found my way. It's JavaScript. It's ugly, disgusting, sick...too.much.interpunction.blows.myMind but it seems like just what I needed so I'm experimenting with it, I've found a way to communicate with XML or use HttpRequests to open PHP files communicating with the server which allows me for an interactive DB update.

@Nahumi:
Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it will do right now, but it just HAS to be interactive. The essence of some stuff is the UI and some things only make sense and are usable if they work in a certain way. My app only makes sense if it's fully dynamic

[sajithafathima]

Friend my opinion is Java because,
The Java environment provides classes for the following UI functionality:
Presenting a graphical UI (GUI)
Playing sounds
Getting configuration information
Saving user preferences using properties
Getting and displaying text using the standard input, output, and error streams
The part of the Java environment called the Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) contains a complete set of classes for writing GUI programs.
AWT Components-provides many standard GUI components such as buttons, lists, menus, and text areas. It also includes containers (such as windows and menu bars) and higher-level components (such as a dialog for opening or saving files).

AWT Classes-Other classes in the AWT include those for working with graphics contexts (including basic drawing operations), images, events, fonts, and colors. Another important group of AWT classes are the layout managers, which manage the size and position of components.

The Anatomy of a GUI-Based Program-provides a framework for drawing and event handling. Using a program-specific hierarchy of containers and components, the AWT forwards events (such as mouse clicks) to the appropriate object. The same hierarchy determines the order in which containers and components draw themselves.