> If you would like to do some web programming, then I would suggest
> php/mysql since many service providers support it (including Mark's
> company Suso). It is easy to get something up and running quickly.
I wanted to throw out a word of caution with regards to PHP.
It is easy to get something up quickly, and a lot of things do use it.
However it is also exceptionally easy to write insecure PHP.
So the initial learning curve seems small, but the learning curve to
reach a level where you're not writing insecure PHP is deceptively
steep.
Another note: Insecure PHP, when used for an open source project lacks
the obscurity benefit that insecure closed source projects have. People
can analyze your code for weaknesses and purposefully exploit it. This
does, in fact, happen.
You're still using a "LAMP stack" if your using Perl or Python. When
people talk about a LAMP stack they are not exclusively talking about
PHP.
Be careful if you are learning PHP to write web code. Even seasoned
professionals still make code that can be cracked when using PHP.
(Just like even seasoned professionals writing C sometimes have
issues with their pointers.)
--
Steven Black <blacks@indiana.edu> / KeyID: 8596FA8E
Fingerprint: 108C 089C EFA4 832C BF07 78C2 DE71 5433 8596 FA8E
