Which programming language?

[Ibanez]

I'm looking to add more interactivity to another one of my sites, however I'm wondering which program language would allow me to do this? I was just thinking of a little game or something, not solid on the exact idea, but anyway would Java be good or what? Help appreciated, thanks.

[tobyhede]

For games and other client-side interaction, Flash is the best option.
For collecting data and other server-side processes, PHP is the defacto standard, but I would suggest using Ruby On Rails as it's much better.

[searcher]

Check out Microsoft's Silverlight. You can leverage the power of .NET with Flash-like posibilities.

[Addict]

My experience is with PHP and I love it. So that's my recommendation.

[ExploringTheMatrix]

For basic things, I second php. It's easy to learn and available on nearly any webserver.

If you look to do something more involved, Ruby on Rails becomes a possibility. However it's overkill for simple tasks.

[JimC]

Flash is good for small online games. If you know javascript, that can be good too.

You can't do real time games with PHP (without another language like Javascript), but you can use PHP for good interactivity. I'm pretty sure Flash has some kind of ability to interact with PHP/MySQL (hence the mysql score tables for some flash games).

I would say use Flash and maybe a little PHP if needed. Actionscript is really easy to learn.

[ticktockclok]

I'm learning AJAX, and it looks like it would be perfect to fit your needs.

[CaptainStubbs]

I vote PHP, for the fact that its available on nearly all web hosts. It also happens to be just as powerful as Ruby, Java, etc... for what you are trying to do.

That's for website interactivity... but if you want a graphical game, I recommend Flash or a Java Applet game.

[Dolazy]

For interactivity there are only 3 options that I am aware of:
- Javascript
- Java applet
- Flash

For games the best options are Java applets and Flash. I myself would prefer programming in Java because I'm already familiar with the language and with object oriented programming. However, most users prefer Flash applications since they load faster and have nicer graphics.

[Minsc]

You could also write a server-side text MMORPG like KingdomOfLoadthing: http://www.kingdomofloathing.com/
(that's something you could use PHP for)

Not sure how long it would take to write a simple one...

[bamfblog]

I wouldn't reccommend flash from a seo standpoint. The crawlers from search engines won't have much to read. I would go with php, javascript, or something else.

[Lil Chris]

Originally Posted by bamfblog

I wouldn't reccommend flash from a seo standpoint. The crawlers from search engines won't have much to read.

That's not entirely true, flash can import standard text files (as well as others) at runtime, thus by putting those files in your directory and search engines will crawl and index them.


My opinion for game development is flash (this is what you asked). Flash can also handle data import and export with most languages (php, mysql are free, as well as AMFphp). Alas this is not an easy task, it's not too complex but not super easy as well. Flash is very specific on how it handles data and depending on how and what your trying to accomplish.

But for the best in interactivity, flash is the way to go...

As always this is just my opinion...

[Minsc]

There wouldn't be much useful text to index in a flash game anyway, so I'm not sure why you'd want it on a search engine. You could write a description of it and put it on the page the game's on.

Also, a search engine wouldn't index a plain-text file unless you linked to it from one your pages...
I'm not sure what the point of doing that would be since the file contains data that a visitor wouldn't need or understand, and they'd be linked to it from a search engine instead of to the actual game when it shows up in a search...

I'm pretty sure Flash can do HTTP requests in general.

[Ibanez]

What are some good resources for php?

[Minsc]

Originally Posted by Ibanez

What are some good resources for php?

Php.net is really the only place you need to go to if you already know PHP.

Here's W3Schools PHP tutorial, which I haven't tried: PHP Tutorial
W3 is good for learning the basics of a language if you can already code but php.net is a better referance.

PHP freaks: PHP Help: PHP Freaks!
(haven't tried that one either but it seems pretty popular)

[Lauxa]

AFAIK, most online games these days are written in Flash. You can use PHP to display images and text, but if you want to include video and sounds, you will need some amount of Flash or maybe Java.