I’m working on a project where there will be a MySQL database containing data that will mostly be displayed on the web using PHP. However, there is a need here for a back-office data entry application (linked to the same MySQL database) that is feature rich and easy to use.
what I’m trying to understand is where we are at with web-based frontends. I find that there are still so many events and features that I can make use of in a Windows Desktop GUI written in something like C#, VB.Net or MS Access. I don’t have a lot of experience programming UI for web but it’s my impression that it’s still more difficult and takes longer to get similar or the same functionality using non-MS web technologies (I dislike ASP.net, sorry) as compared to programming the desktop portion in a traditional desktop application language like C#, VB.Net, or MS Access.
jQuery and jQuery UI are definately making things easier. Also, there’s very rich online applications like Google Docs and Zoho but it’s my impression that these are programmed by some of the top web UI programmers around, not to mention that it takes longer to write it and intensive testing to make it work in all of your target browsers. It also takes extra time and code to “block” browsers that don’t meet the requirements.
What programming language would you recommend?
I know I may not have given enough information here but I’m not sure what I’m missing. If you have questions just leave a comment below so I can edit this post and answer the questions.
I think, the important decisive parameter in your case is:
who is going to use the end?
TRUE: almost anything can be implemented as a web application these days and web applications are the future while desktop applications will become the exception
TRUE: the obvious challenges of the web are still the same
In your case, if the end you’re talking about is for internal use and just a few selected persons are going to use it plus you are more fluent in desktop application development… the choice seems obvious to me.
If on the other hand there is a chance that a bigger number of people in many locations with different computer systems are going to use the end, make it for the web.
You say you know VB.NET, well where’s the problem… you can write your aspx pages in VB.NET, can’t you?