A quick question for all the IT gurus out there.

I'm wanting to take leap from churning out static web pages and start producing dynamic sites. I was wondering if some of you could offer real world advice of pros and cons of the various application server/web server/editor combinations.

First, my backgound is art/design, not computers. Said another way; I really don't want to learn a computer scripting language if I can help it. I understand that with a dynamic pages, I don't have much of a choice, but I'd like to keep the coding (that I do) to a minimum.

I've been a GoLive 6.0 user, but just got a copy of Dreamweaver MX. After adjusting to the new UI, I think I like it better. Also, DMX goes hand in hand with Cold Fusion MX so it seems a good fit for my skill level.


Any strong feelings against Cold Fusion? As I'll have to find a host that supports Cold Fusion any suggestions regarding a host?

Thanks for any comments or suggestions to make dynamic sites as easy as possible?

Thanks!

 

There are probably more hosting services that offer mySQL database. Dreamweaver MX makes it relatively easy to set up basic PHP/mySQL database driven sites without having to do any coding. Just a suggestion.

 

cold fusion blows chowder IMHO. I'd recommend php on apache with (mysql||postgresql). It's an embedded scripting language, meaning it is written inline in your html inside special tags. php is more popular and there are dozens of resources on the net, including a GREAT searchable reference manual, pre-written scripts/applications to handle almost any situation, etc.

The best way to learn is to hack what other people have done...that's how i've learned every language I know. Find an application that is close to what you want, then go in and modify it to suit your needs. If you're lucky you might even find an application that does everything you need and then digging into the code would only be to gain extra knowledge

 

Thanks for the reply guys (and for the suggestions), the more I dig, the more I realize that CFMX is NOT the way to go.

Seems like there are a few friendly CMS interfaces for php available, so I guess it's time to learn how to put the pieces and parts together.

Thanks again - Cheers