S
Steve Chapel
I've been contracted to make a website that requires a certain amount of
server-side programming. Specifically, users should be able to register
a username and password on the site. Associated with the username will
be contact information such as real name, email address, phone number,
etc. Once logged in, they should be able to register for an annual
meeting by paying with a credit card on the site.
I've worked on websites with PHP and JSP, and I would consider using
either of those languages. However, every time I write PHP I'm
frustrated that I can't write in Perl, which I'm much more familiar
with. And Java seems a tad verbose for doing the simple kinds of
programming that the site will need -- again, I'll probably wish I were
writing Perl.
I've been researching the Perl equivalent of PHP and JSP, and it seems
there are all too many alternatives: Perl Template Toolkit, embperl,
Mason, HTML::Template, Text::Template, and probably others. Some of
these alternatives seem to separate the Perl and HTML into two different
files. Others, such as the Template Toolkit, require learning an
additional language to do the templating. It seems like Mason is about
the closest equivalent to PHP and JSP for embedding Perl into HTML. The
Perl code is in the same file as the HTML and doesn't seem to require
learning large amounts of additional syntax. At least that's the
impression I get from the Mason book's comparison:
<http://www.masonbook.com/book/chapter-1.mhtml#TOC-ANCHOR-7>.
Am I right in concluding that Mason is what I will probably want to use
for this site as an alternative to PHP or JSP? Is it going to be just as
easy to use Mason to accept credit cards on the site as it would be to
use PHP? Will it be easy to find a web host that provides Mason support?
If the answer to these questions is "no," what language would you
recommend for the site?
server-side programming. Specifically, users should be able to register
a username and password on the site. Associated with the username will
be contact information such as real name, email address, phone number,
etc. Once logged in, they should be able to register for an annual
meeting by paying with a credit card on the site.
I've worked on websites with PHP and JSP, and I would consider using
either of those languages. However, every time I write PHP I'm
frustrated that I can't write in Perl, which I'm much more familiar
with. And Java seems a tad verbose for doing the simple kinds of
programming that the site will need -- again, I'll probably wish I were
writing Perl.
I've been researching the Perl equivalent of PHP and JSP, and it seems
there are all too many alternatives: Perl Template Toolkit, embperl,
Mason, HTML::Template, Text::Template, and probably others. Some of
these alternatives seem to separate the Perl and HTML into two different
files. Others, such as the Template Toolkit, require learning an
additional language to do the templating. It seems like Mason is about
the closest equivalent to PHP and JSP for embedding Perl into HTML. The
Perl code is in the same file as the HTML and doesn't seem to require
learning large amounts of additional syntax. At least that's the
impression I get from the Mason book's comparison:
<http://www.masonbook.com/book/chapter-1.mhtml#TOC-ANCHOR-7>.
Am I right in concluding that Mason is what I will probably want to use
for this site as an alternative to PHP or JSP? Is it going to be just as
easy to use Mason to accept credit cards on the site as it would be to
use PHP? Will it be easy to find a web host that provides Mason support?
If the answer to these questions is "no," what language would you
recommend for the site?