The Efficiency of Various

Development Languages
Pros and Cons
Dawn Daniels
June 2010
Objective
Topics to be discussed include:

Considerations before deciding on language
Analyze different web development languages
Pros and cons of utilizing different languages
Recommendation for efficiency at the
Department of Aviation

There is no perfect
programming language!
Considerations
Consider the following when deciding on which
programming/development language to use:

Server platform/ Operating System
Budget
Resources experience in programming
Database/ backend


Popular Web Server
Operating Systems
Apache Web Server
Linux
Sun Solaris
BSD,
Mac OS X
IIS Web Server
Any Microsoft OS
Programming Languages
Popular Web Programming Languages

Visual Basic
Perl
PHP
C
C++
Java/JSP
ColdFusion
ASP
C#

Analyzing Programming
Languages
Perl
Perl
PHP Hypertext Processor
Uses server side code
Open source/ free
Integrates with HTML
easily



C
Most popular language for
writing system software;
not web applications
Works well on UNIX
systems
Language similar to Java,
PHP, and JavaScript
Analyzing Programming
Languages (2)
C++
C++
Compatible with C
Means C with Classes
Object Oriented data use

Java
Sun Systems product
language
JavaServer Pages
Code is executed on
server and displayed on
web page
Integrates with HTML easily
Analyzing Programming
Languages (3)
C#
Designed by Microsoft for
the .NET world
Object Oriented
Uses static classes
(Classes which cannot
contain any non-static
members)
Allows blocks of unsafe
code
Visual Basic
Uses COM component
(handles pooling and
transactions)
Designed by Microsoft for
.NET platform
Uses namespaces
Integrates with HTML
easily
Uses XML
Automatically inserts
Methods



Analyzing Programming
Languages (4)
Cold Fusion
Scripting language
Written for dynamic html/
web site use
Integrates with HTML easily
Owned by Adobe
Integrates with all Adobe
products (Flash,
Dreamweaver, Fireworks,
etc).
ASP/ ASP.NET
Active Server Pages
Designed by Microsoft for
.NET platform
Formerly called XSP
Integrates with HTML
easily
Delivers software as a
service
Platform for using web
services



Pros and Cons of
Utilizing Different Languages
Pros
Visual Basic and C# are
good for use in Rapid
Prototype Development
Visual Basic and C# are
designed for web
services and software as
a service applications
Uses Source Safe for
team development
Cons
C is outdated
Java slows down
development time (limits
manipulation of code)



Recommendation for ISD
Development/Maintenance
My recommendation for utilizing the different web development
programming languages in order to make the
Department/Division more efficient include:

Establish the experience of the resources assigned to web
development and support functions. Is the team more proficient in
Visual Basic.Net, C#.Net, PHP, etc. ?
My recommendation is Visual Basic.Net since most of our apps are
already designed using it. It takes a great deal of development time
and effort to redesign as app in another language (ie., Contracts
Management System was designed in C3 and redesigned in VB).
Creating a standard for in-house and outsourced/off the shelf
products to be developed using the same language (if possible;
apps like the wifi portal are built using Ruby On Rails and cannot be
changed, so we are forced to maintain it).