More Perl or More Java for Our Prototyping?

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

We are developing a prototyping for a research project about "highway traffic monitoring and intelligence routing."

We are using Windows XP and looking for simple and stable technologies.

We try to avoid using those fancy but over-complicated and unstable stuff (which are more for enterprise applications) so that we don't spend most of our time on debugging techstack issues.

Here is what we need to do:

----Continuously collecting information from a set of web pages and store data into an Oracle database

----Define a set of rules for analysis

----Perform some statistic and calculation (not so heavy)

----Draw some graphs to show the current situation and possible routings

----Have GUI for user interaction (don't need to be fancy) for query the situations and the page to be refreshed by itself

----No requirement for the system to be used for volume user

----It is fine that the application only can be accessed on my PC. If it is not too trouble, make it accessible through web.

Please kindly provide insight or advice. We are quite open to other options not listed below.

For database accessing, using Perl DBI or Java JDBC?

For business logic, using Perl or Java?

For GUI, using Perl CGI, Perl/Tk, Java Swing, or Java JSF?

For drawing graphs, using Java?

We will also use SQL, PL/SQL, and some data warehouse technologies.

Thanks a lot

PerlSearcher

Comment on More Perl or More Java for Our Prototyping?

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Re: More Perl or More Java for Our Prototyping? by roboticus (Chancellor) on Jul 17, 2007 at 22:14 UTC
PerlSearcher: Your question is far too open-ended, and possibly inflammable. But I'll give you my standard answer to this type of question: What language(s) are you fastest at coding? What language(s) are most popular at your site? What web server are you running? &tc., &tc., &tc. BTW: I'm not asking you to answer my questions. I'm just basically telling you that you'll have to do a bit more thinking before you can frame the right questions. Also, you'll want to ask it in a language-neutral forum to get (somewhat) less biased responses. After all ... everyone here is a perl fan! Once you choose your development platform, &tc., ask us perl questions! ...roboticus	[reply]
Re^2: More Perl or More Java for Our Prototyping? by PerlSearcher (Novice) on Jul 18, 2007 at 00:57 UTC
I posted question here because I need help.... Could anyone give some personal opinion on these architectural related questions? Am I choosing Perl for doing the right things? This is just trying to understand what Perl is suitable and not suitable? What Perl is good at and not good at... In deed, these are open questions. I am not requesting perfect answers. I just would like to get some sense or get a poll from Wisdom.... Thanks PerlSearcher	[reply]
Re^3: More Perl or More Java for Our Prototyping? by roboticus (Chancellor) on Jul 18, 2007 at 12:17 UTC
PerlSearcher: If you're asking these questions, then you don't know perl. If you're going to program the system yourself then learning and using perl would be a fine choice. Using code from CPAN will give you much of the capabilities you want. But your question is still too open ended: what kinds of graphs do you want to draw? What data volumes are you interested in? Since you've provided so few constraints, nearly anything you're told could be a good answer, no matter if it's useful to you or not. Your project might be best implemented as a VBA script in Excel, a perl program, flash or just about anything depending on the particulars. What's the prototype supposed to prove/demonstrate? ...roboticus	[reply]
Re: More Perl or More Java for Our Prototyping? by lin0 (Curate) on Jul 17, 2007 at 22:20 UTC
hi PerlSearcher, I would go with more Perl :-) Of course, that is the kind of answer you would expect in a forum of people that “love” Perl By the way, you can check the node on Really slick Charts and Graphs for recommendations on drawing graphs with Perl, R, and the like Cheers, lin0	[reply]
Re: More Perl or More Java for Our Prototyping? by perrin (Chancellor) on Jul 18, 2007 at 08:25 UTC
Perl is capable of everything you describe and will do it well. There is no architectural reason not to use Perl. The real question is what your team knows or has interest in. Also, most people would choose an all-web GUI these days over a widget framework, regardless of language.	[reply]
Re: More Perl or More Java for Our Prototyping? by snoopy (Curate) on Jul 18, 2007 at 08:07 UTC
Rather than considering a GUI, you could develop a Perl web app that runs locally on your PC. Start by installing Apache. CGI::Application describes itself as "a mature, lightweight, flexible MVC framework for web application development". In pratice This tutorial gets you started in about 30-40 lines of code. The graphs could be done server side (eg using CGI::Application::GDGraph::lines_ap). Alternatively you could do it client side. Just google for one of the many freely available javascript scripts. Update: fixed GD Graph reference.	[reply]
Re^2: More Perl or More Java for Our Prototyping? by Corion (Patriarch) on Jul 18, 2007 at 08:09 UTC
Why install Apache when there is HTTP::Server::Simple? Apache has many features that are not needed for a single-user webserver.	[reply]
Re^2: More Perl or More Java for Our Prototyping? by PerlSearcher (Novice) on Jul 18, 2007 at 18:16 UTC
Thanks for all the suggestions. Here is the Perl solution for my light weighted standalone web application (based on the input so far): § Using IIS, or install Apache, or HTTP::Server::Simple § Developing a Perl web app that runs locally on my PC using CGI::Application, which is "a mature, lightweight, flexible MVC framework for web application development". Tutorial here. § Drawing graphs on server side using CGI::Application::GDGraph::lines_ap and GD::Graph § Oracle database access using DBD-ORACLE Thanks PerlSearcher	[reply]