Help on Developing Web Based Database Application

Jamnet has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi Monks,

I have a small commercial console based application in perl, which I plan convert into web based. The application will be served by Apache, using PostgreSQL. But I am not able to find a right application development tool (Template / API) i.e cgi::application, Template Toolkit, mod_perl, mason, maypole, catalyst, etc. I would pefer a secure, stable, feature rich option which will make my web development journey a pleasant one for long time to come.

Please no online war, and I hope this discussion will help many more developers like me. If this topic was discussed earlier then kindly point me to the link. Thanks a lot.

Regards

Jamnet
Mumbai, India
9821421965

Edited by planetscape - removed <pre> tags; replaced with <p> </p>

Comment on Help on Developing Web Based Database Application

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Re: Help on Developing Web Based Database Application by tphyahoo (Vicar) on Oct 14, 2005 at 08:44 UTC
I'm in the same shoes as you. I have tentatively settled on Catalyst, but I am not sure it is the right decision. The setup has costed me a lot of sweat, mostly due to my own ignorance -- specially when I consider how easy it was was to start coding in php, compared with Catalyst, I have had my moments of doubt. However, I have also had php projects bog down with unclear separation of concerns, difficulty adding new features, and the other usual suspects. With catalyst, there are so many cool features that I expect the time I save down the line will more than make up for the time I have lost so far. Kind of like learning regexes, versus vanilla find-and-replace. :) You also may find Survey of Surveys on HTML Templating systems helpful in making a decision. Good luck! update: fixed missing id:// in above link. now works.	[reply]
Re: Help on Developing Web Based Database Application by lachoy (Parson) on Oct 14, 2005 at 13:51 UTC
perrin gave a presentation this year @ YAPC::NA and OSCON about different MVC frameworks in Perl. You can grab the slides and code samples from the YAPC::NA 2005 wiki. Chris M-x auto-bs-mode	[reply]
Re: Help on Developing Web Based Database Application by stevie (Initiate) on Oct 14, 2005 at 08:54 UTC
i've developed with mod_perl and template toolkit on a mysql backend in the past and find them to be very complimentory of each other. i would recommend that particular combination for any web based developer :)	[reply]
Re^2: Help on Developing Web Based Database Application by saskaqueer (Friar) on Oct 15, 2005 at 15:56 UTC
I will second the use of mod_perl with Template Toolkit and mysql (powered through DBI of course). I know that there are others out there who would highly suggest postgresql over mysql, but for some reason I've never really looked at postgresql. Perhaps it's because a lot of my past development has been on win32 machines; if I am remembering correctly, they have not always had a version of its software for win32. In any case, mod_perl coupled with Template Toolkit and either mysql or postgresql I guess. :)	[reply]
Re: Help on Developing Web Based Database Application by pajout (Curate) on Oct 14, 2005 at 08:35 UTC
Imho, you find The Holy Grail :) The potential advice depends on many requirements, for instance richness of GUI, scalability of GUI, complexity of application logic, speed, amount of http-requests, ... I'll welcome other replays too.	[reply]
Re: Help on Developing Web Based Database Application by phaylon (Curate) on Oct 14, 2005 at 10:24 UTC
I'm using Catalyst for web-dev since a while now. It's feature-rich, easy extendable and fun to work in. I'd put you in some directions regarding modules, but you haven't said what you're exactly up to ;) Ordinary morality is for ordinary people. -- Aleister Crowley	[reply]
Re: Help on Developing Web Based Database Application by samizdat (Vicar) on Oct 14, 2005 at 13:32 UTC
I also have done a lot of php coding, and find that HTML::Embperl with Apache::Session gives me a lot more flexibility and support without a lot more overhead. It isn't perfect, but it also doesn't get in the way. It's not as feature-rich as Perl+Catalyst or Ruby on Rails, but it is very easy to produce solid, working systems in very little time. Like many things in Perl and CPAN, I haven't even begun to utilize ALL of its capabilities! :D	[reply]