WebDNA Developer Edition for Mac User Reviews
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"WebDNA versus PHP"
Version: WebDNA Developer Edition 6.2
Pros
You can do anything you want with WebDNA but...
Cons
PHP offers lots of pre-built scripts
Summary
Even though I have a core interest in WebDNA, I'm not going to deflate the validity of PHP. It is a daily warrior of server-side programming, and it is the most widely used solution. Also, if you know C++ or Java/Javascript, you already have a head start with PHP.. though you still need to learn the intricacies of the language and the (custom) function libs etc.. which takes years really.
I've been a PHP list member for years now, and what I see **weekly** there is question after question on the smallest/easiest of things. For example, there is currently a 40+ posting thread that started with the question:
"I am having difficulties figuring out how enter retrieved data into a dropdown box for editing."
My gosh, with WebDNA you do this stuff without even thinking now, don't you?... well, most of us at least.
There was recently another thread that was about submitting form input and then trying to loop through the input to do stuff with it on the next page... There were 10's of various answers each with a significant amount of code involved... I just really wanted to say:
[formvariables..][/formvariables]!
Like I said, I see proof/examples of this stuff weekly.
So, my point (and conclusion) is, there are a lot of installations of PHP out there.. but most of them are drones. ...Perhaps someone achieved the ability to make a pre-built forum work, or perhaps PHP was enabled to get some other pre-built app/function working.. but *most* of the PHP installations are like this.. no custom stuff, just enacted to make a pre-built thing work... or maybe just enacted for no reason. ;-)
People who buy and install WebDNA, use WebDNA.
What hanging around the PHP forum tells me is that we (as a WebDNA base group) are operating, relatively, in a higher plane than PHP'ers in regards to
"end result". In other words, the ratio of 'accomplishment' to 'number of users' is astronomically higher with our community than with the PHP community.
Having said this, I know there are some amazing PHP users out there who are creating cutting edge stuff (and more power to them).. but I'll also bet the top tier is not that large.
What PHP has that WebDNA does not have is a multitude of options.. API's, Pre-Built Apps, Custom (Open Source) functions libs/classes to do about anything you need.
(though, I would wager that it takes just about as much time to build an API in WebDNA as it does to install a pre-built API in PHP in many cases. ;-) )
WebDNA was created from the start for the web. It is intuitive, especially to new users. (I like the word 'elegant' too, as someone else expressed). It is simple and to the point, yet offers depth when needed.
My favorite thing to say about WebDNA is that it is a "catalyst for creativity and innovation". -
"Great language!"
Version: WebDNA Developer Edition 6.2
Pros
I was worrying about having to learn a new language, after years and years of using the same development tools. I like the RAM-based database: runs much faster than usual HD-based ones.
Cons
Half of my team developes with Windows. 6.2 Win of WebDNA not available, yet, according to a recent press release.
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"Programming web language including database system"
Version: WebDNA Developer Edition 6.2
Pros
flexible, powerful database and server-side scripting language. A web programming language for non-programmers. Completely replaces any other DB and scripting language.
Cons
relatively unknown. Complicated pre-built eCommerce features that can be bypassed by your own code.
Summary
I built more intranet systems with webdna than with any other language. It was already there when php was about to be released in 1997, if I remember. What I like most with webdna is the database system: it is built-in and works directly from RAM, which makes it ultrafast, faster than MySQL actually. The best point is the format of the databases: universal, you can import and export to/from almost any database system, or even open and edit from Excel. You can mix languages into the DB, dates, numbers, whatever, without any need to specifically format the field, and webdna will actually be able to manipulate the data, searching, comparing, calculating or building SQL queries. I know no other database or scripting system able to do that. Love it!
There is a new WebDNA FastCGI version at http://dev.webdna.us/products.html, compatible with LION and 64bits. It is also faster for [search] and [append] contexts. The new FastCGI concept allows a much better control (debugging) as well as a wider compatibility with almost any webserver FastCGI compatible available to OSX (lighttpd for instance)
Updated on Feb 22, 2012 -
"Powerful web delopment language"
Version: WebDNA Developer Edition 6.2
Pros
Allows to build virtually any web appli in hours instead of days. Great support and useful talk list.
Cons
No windows version. I have to use a linux preprod server. I would love to use my PC.
Summary
This soft is known for years by a small group of webdesigners zealots who do not want to share their secret :-) seriously, it is a real language, elegant and powerful, and it does not require specific programming knowledge. html understanding is enough to build database-driven websites. It is a lot like XML and easier to learn than javascript. I would define myself as a designer but i built applications with WebDNA that a fellow php programmer still doesn't believe i did it by myself. Used to be an expensive product, but it seems to be fixed now.
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