Newbie question - which tech platform is best option??

Hi,

I have a web based business idea that I would like to implement. It requires a basic website with a database back-end.

Initially, i want to put together a prototype on the cheap (dont we all ). However, if it is a success, I want to be able to scale up to 25-50k users hitting the website during a 1-5 hour period.

A little more information...
Without giving over my idea...hehe - chances are, no one else'd want it anyway...but hey, I'm dreaming here.

I'm looking to design an online game similar to the fantasy sport sites that are available where basically people pay money to select fantasy players (based on real players) with the aim of finishing top and collecting the main prize (a la www.dreamteamfc.com).

I have put together my screen designs and game rules. My next step is to find developers...but prior to this, I have to make a decision...Java/php/Javscript/MySQL/Access/Oracle etc. The type of functionality i require is webpages linked to a database providing a dynamic update. Basically, players will log in on the Monday and check their updated scores.

From above, I assume the most difficult level of functionality I'm asking for is using the database to upload latest scores/tallies within html pages. Given all the above, what are my options for development...which technology combo is the best way for me to go? (Java/MySQL etc)

Any advice is much appreciated.

Rgds
One confused Techie wannabe!!

Although I'm no expert on web development, I'd lean towards a LAMP solution (PHP/MySQL). This would be the easiest to learn, developers are cheap, and you should easily be able to find good hosting.

Java is very good for enterprise-class web projects where you have an ORM layer, a service layer, and a presentation layer and rely on a number of powerful frameworks. Its heavier, but capable of serving millions, easy to add powerful features, and follows many good design principles. Its also costly and not the best solution for smaller sites. You could do well on Java + an MVC framework though, but I'm sure PHP must have a good MVC framework now too.

Your project doesn't sound like it needs significant server-side logic and such little DB access that a server page approach isn't painful. Since you want to keep costs low, you should choose free solutions whenever possible (meaning MySQL over Oracle or Access). The server-side languages won't do client-side logic for the games, so you'll probably need some javascript, flash, or whatever. You should be able to find decent developers here, guru.com, or rentacoder.com on a LAMP solution at very fair costs. Or you could do it yourself, and I've heard that PHP is much easier to learn than JSP (only used the latter).

Best of luck.