This is an issue every web developer faces when setting up his/her website. I have posed a few scenarios and selected which the best solution for the job.
Scenario 1 – PHP vs ASP
The client wants a website which will access information from a central database to give the user an insurance quote. The staff in the call centre also need to access the same information from the same database so that if exactly the same information was entered into the website and the call centre, the quote would be the same (ignoring online discounts) unless policies have been changed in-between. Your client also wants MSN embedded into the system.
It is important to remember there is no right or wrong answer, but their are two main options:
- PHP & MySQL
- ASP.NET & MS Access (msSQL)
Which you chose depends on the budget as both would be just as effective. Whichever language you choose, the most effective way of giving the call centre operators access to MSN would be to use a basic messenger program such as GAIM (dependant on the operating system of their machines). If you chose ASP, they would have to use windows machines to run the software, inuring extra costs.
It would not be effective to use JavaScript with XML to meet these needs as it would open security holes as staff from the call centre side of the solution and users from their home pc could just open the XML file and get access to customers and staff details or whatever is stored in the database.
I would use PHP with two web interfaces, one for call-centre staff and one for customers online. MSN access for staff would be given via the workstations they were using. Or there is always PHP121.
Scenario 2 – An example when you would use client-side
The client wants you to create them a simple quiz where the users of their website drag a scrambled set of answers
to the questions into the right positions. The software department need to be able to easily create a piece of software to generate new quizzes for the client to upload.
You could use Flash or JavaScript to achieve this.
If you choose flash it is almost impossible for the user to crack their way to the answers and it uses less of the
users computer’s processing power. However it costs a lot of money and would be hard for the software team, to create a generator for. The user will also need to have flash installed as well as the client.
JavaScript is the most common answer. It would be easy to create a generator and is a cheap option, but the user needs JavaScript enabled and installed, and the solution would demand a high amount of processing power from the users computer compared to flash. This is why the jQuery library is so useful in this scenario. It has been written with such care that it uses minimal resources and bandwidth.
Summary
The solution you select needs to be on a scenario by scenario basis. You need to look on the demand the script will give to the users computer, budget and capability of each technology to solve each of the criteria.
Tags: Client-side, Programming, Scripting, server-side
