Choosing a Company to Build Your Software

My Comments

• Choosing a Company to Build Your Software - 10/26/2006
  Good point, Scott. You are correct - there are some good vendors on these sites. I've updated the guide to use "be cautious" instead of "don't use."
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• Choosing a Company to Build Your Software - 10/25/2006
  (this is a continuatio of the comment below) Java is mostly used in large, enterprise-level situations such as in financial and health institutions. I would not recommend Java for most web applications simply because it's a complex language, and you won't find nearly as many people who can work on and maintain it, as you will with PHP and ASP.NET. PHP is used all over the place - from tiny websites to large web applications. PHP is fast (though not quite as fast as ASP.NET), reliable, and you can easily find web hosts to support it (look for Linux hosting). You can also host it in-house on any Linux server. There are many PHP firms and freelancers out there. All that to say, I would recommend ASP.NET or PHP for your web application development. For desktop applications: if you're targeting Windows, Microsoft's .NET is the only way to go. If you're targeting multiple platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac), you'll want to talk to an expert in this area to find out the best approach since I am a web developer by trade. The complexity with desktop applications is that you typically have to maintain a version of your software for each platform - so for Windows, Linux and Mac you'd have three separate versions, each written in a different variation of C++. You could also use Java, but the user interface is clunky and users tend not to like it as much as applications written specifically for the platform in C++.
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• Choosing a Company to Build Your Software - 10/25/2006
  This is a good question, Jason. Let's talk about web development first. The main languages used today are ASP.NET, PHP, and Java. ColdFusion and Ruby are also used, but ColdFusion has been on its way out for a while, and Ruby is on its way in, but probably too new for your use. ASP.NET is Microsoft's web development framework, and I consider it the best combination of ease of use, fast development, and adility to support massive, enterprise-level applications. Of course, I'm biased because ASP.NET is my primary platform. You may hear the terms C# (pronounced C-sharp) and VB.NET thrown around in reference to ASP.NET; ASP.NET can be written using a number of languages, it is simply a set of lanugage-independent tools developers can use to build software. ASP.NET is extremely fast, reliable, easy to maintain, and you can easily find web hosts that will support it (look for Windows hosting). You can also host it in-house on any Windows server. There are many ASP.NET development firms and freelancers out there. Java and PHP are your other options; they are "open source" languages, meaning no company owns them. They are built and supported by a group of developers who donate their time to help the greater good.
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