I am in the process of choosing a web framework for an application that will contain:
- an ajax heavy user interface for administration and configuration
- subsite accessed by mobile terminals (like cellphones, windows mobile, etc) that will include Google Gears for offline support
- a reporting site
Since I know basic PHP as well as Python, I am inclined to use Django since Python is a much better language. However, needing to use ajax (jquery, YUI,…) extensively and a need for some kind of reporting engine (like Jasper Reports for java), steers me away from Django since I do not see many results on google… Just seems PHP has so much more documentation and addons that could assist with my requirements, plus the frameworks such as Symfony or CodeIgniter wrap some of the weaknesses of the PHP language.
Any experience with ajax and reporting and Django? Basically, I want to be convinced that going with Django is the way to go, or warned to stay away from it.
Cheers
Ajax and reporting and Django go quite well together, so if you find yourself more comfortable at Python (no surprise there) and would like a well rounded framework to code in – Django is the way to go. It does not get in your way while being pretty full-featured, we have production Ajax sites with heavy reporting (all custom though) and never regretted going with Django over RoR or especially PHP.