Newbie: Best way to do ... ?

Anon

I've done plain HTML. I've written VB programs that access databases.

Now I would like to create a website that displays a small 'contact list'. Multiple users would not only be able to view it, but could update or add to the contact list through forms or html pages that access the 'database' of contacts.

What is the easiest way to accomplish this? Is FrontPage and Access in Office 2000 going to let me do this more easily than anything else? Or perhaps PHP and MySQL, which I've only just learned of and know nothing about?

I appreciate any input!

Thanks in advance.

Jay

shanx24

Buzzzzz...wrong question, in the wrong place.

I would say that PHP and MySQL are a very easy choice over Frontpage's excuse for a server side language and Access's excuse for a database.

Does that help?

Anon

I guess I need to take back the part about appreciating any input.

Wrong question? Not possible.

Wrong place? Elaborate. Is this 'actually' a Mafia-owned money-laundering organization posing as a PHP site? It appears to me to be a place that would have lots of people passing through who could answer my particular question.

I 'would' accept your statement as a simple yea-vote for PHP/MySQL, but it mostly strikes me as simply "anything-but-MS-no-matter-what."

Let me add this additional request. I don't care to hear about your software bias. I want to know if it's easier to do the specific thing I outlined in FrontPage/Access or in some other 'specific' application(s).

Thanks,

Jay

shanx24

Uh-oh, looks like my "input" came across as acrimonious? Or was it just your response?

(A small hint: No one apart from me has responsed to your question, which I hope tells you how right/wrong, obvious/unobvious etc your question was).

In any case, I guess the reason I said it is a wrong question is that this is a PHP site and at best, you are most likely to get a biased opinion, dont you think? I barely had the intention of putting you down due to some major fallacy you committed!

That said, let me take a shot at your question again.

You have two options:

Frontpage/Access
MySQL/PHP

Now, thats a no-brainer! With Frontpage and Access you can only go so far. Access as a database will probably buckle after 10 uesrs. Secondly, you will most likely be
using ODBC to do your DB programming (though OLE is an option) and either case, no one really uses Access on a "real" web site.

The second option: PHP and MySQL - there are real, professional, big time sites running on this platform, for $0. Thats something, isnt it?

Even if you asked me to compare Frontpage or ASP and SQL Server, I would still say go for MySQL and PHP because of the

Ease
Performance
Availability of free code

I hope that helps, though I must admit I am regurgitating what has said already a zillion times before.

If you really took the time to write that note, it would also be interesting to hear what kind of time you spent in searching online for your question? Did you try google.com with, say, "PHP vs ASP"?

If you note the other threads, it will be obvious to you that some of us come here to help, and be helped. When you ask a question that has (a) been asked a zillion times, and answered and (b) is morbidly obvious, then you should be prepared to get the kind of answer you got.

Hope this link should get you started:
http://php.weblogs.com/php_vs_asp

(There are more there).

Sincerely, for a person who did not really try to search, you seemed awefully confident.

If you need to respond to this message in an upset way, please do not write it here and waste bandwidth. You can take it out on me personally (shanx_at_shanx_dot_com).

Take it easy,
Shanx

shanx24

You can easily transfer your data from your contact list DB (if you have any) into MySQL and have a PHP script read it within 15 minutes. Its fairly simple. Go for it, you will never look back on VBScript/Access.

PHP: www.php.net
MySQL: www.mysql.com

(Both are fairly well documented)

Anon

OK, now some of this is good input. Thanks!

(However, you make some assumptions that are incorrect. I did not want any asp/php debates or comparison's. I'm not that advanced yet, though what I had already read about php on about.com indicated that it was vastly superior to asp. All I wanted was to know what my options were to do what I outlined. Now you've answered that! Thanks!If it's true that I have a choice between only two options, my problem is greatly simplified. If it's true that Access will buckle with just 10 users, then that info is Very Much appreciated. Of course, you assume that I'll ever have more than two simultaneous users on the database, which is why the question about which route is easier was more important to me than which solution is more powerful. You've made a much more convincing argument to go the MySQL/PHP route, especially if it's only a binary decision as you say. I'm glad you didn't stop with the 'no brainer' comment. How can it be a no brainer to a newbie who hasn't done a project in either FP/Access or PHP/MySQL? 'Gruesomely obvious?' Is that your intended meaning, and how would the answer to my question be 'morbidly obvious' in the least given that I a) didn't know the number of possible solutions for my task, and b) had only learned of PHP/MySQL the same day I posed the original question? I think both those facts were clear in the original post. Thanks for taking the time to give the links!

And Hey! Thanks for conserving the worlds precious bandwidth! I shudder when considering the abuse I'd have to take to get this info from you had you felt free to use unlimited bandwidth.)

Thanks again,

Jay

shanx24

Hi Jay

Glad you found it useful.

I know we shouldnt continue like this, but I cannot resist this 🙂 ..

How can it be a no brainer to a newbie who
hasn't done a project in either FP/Access
or PHP/MySQL?

..and hasnt bothered to look on the Internet at all?

Ok OK, I knew I should have stopped..my humble apologies. Hope you have a good time learning. As I said, you wont regret moving onto MySQL - it really is a great db compared to Access and its so simple you'll soon forget MySQL!

Another helpful link: since no one will tell you this - you might like to go to http://www.download.com and download something called "MySQL FrontEnd" (lovely interface for using MySQL) if you dont like using DOS based interfaces.

Cheers and good luck,
-S