Which language should I learn?

Which of the following languages/technologies best lends itself to web application programming? Also, this may sound odd, but I have the opportunity to learn one of these languages, BUT I don;t have access to a Windows server. Only Linux. I assume that's a problem.

UNLESS, I can download a free Windows server environment somewhere for testing? I have Windows XP Pro, so I suppose I could load a Windows server into a MS virtual machine, if the server was available for free (which I doubt)...and I don;t plan on buying a Windows server OS any time soon...

Here are the languages/technologies that I can choose from (I can only choose one):



FYI - I already know XHTML, CSS, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, DHTML, AJAX, Perl, XML

Thanks for your suggestions!

Over 50 people have looked at this thread, and no one has the first clue?...I'm really just asking for opinions, so if you took the time to read this thread, please give me a piece of your mind....you don;t have to write a book, just a few sentences...

Thanks...

Hi randall,

The list you gave seems a little confusing - you have products and also whole certifications.

If you want to do web development using Microsoft technologies then you'll need a microsoft platform and environment to develop and test on.

For what it's worth I'd recommend ASP.net using Visual Basic.

Microsoft used to do a "Direct Access" pack which included all their server and development products for about $200. This was for educational/marketing purposes only and not intended for commercial use. I don't know if they still sell this product.

Alternatively, you can get evaluation versions of Visual Studio. I'm not sure of the system requirements though.

Hope this helps!

Tried to google for tthe Direct Access pack and turned this up instead...

https://partner.microsoft.com/

That happens some times...

Given that you already know how to program in various languages,
the Learning to Program courses could be a bit basic, I am sure
you could pick up the lingo from a good book.

Anyway, my choice would be something with C# maybe ASP.NET.
You will need a Windows server (or XP Pro) machine so you can
install and run IIS to test the code you write.

If you go for Windows Application development, you can use
the C# skills on Linux by installing Mono. Which is also available
for Windows and I believe the Mac.

I have seen a mod-mono thingy for Apache but I can't say if
it gives the full asp.net feature set.

Thanks for the replies guys....



I've already chosen to go the C# with ASP.NET route...C# is more like other languages I know, so it seems easier to learn...

I have Win XP Pro, but I'm hesitant to install IIS...what will installing this do to my system? Any side-effects?



I have Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition, and it seems to have everything I need for ASP.NET with C#...I installed it and it runs fine on Win XP Pro...It comes with it's own development "server", so you can view your code in a browser without having to install IIS...I've gone through some of the Help files, and it seems to have and do what I need...



Can you expand on this? What is Mono and where can i get it? Is Mono for practicing strictly C# (minus the ASP.NET part)?

Thanks again.