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I have such a conception, to build a simple web application using some php/mysql hosting service. I'd also like to create a local version of that app. The local version should work similarly as the online one (i.d. using browser as the ui) and have the ability to communicate with the server. I want it to be as lightweight as possible.

Professionally, I'm a c#/.net programmer. I also have some experience with c/c++,javascript, python and java. I know very little about php, and honestly, I don't like the feeling coding in that language, hence, don't have much willingness to dig into it. .Net, python or java they're all too unwieldy, I can't force the users to install any of them. So I thought about haxe's multi-targeting. If I were to code the project in haxe (it seems pretty straight forward to learn, for some one with my background), I might use the same logic on both side of the server and the client, by targeting both php and neko.

As a novice, I have some doubts. I'm not sure if haxe for php alreadly mature enough for this kinda job. I know haxe is a cousin of ActionScript, it primarily targets AS, and because the author is also the inventor of nekoVM, therefore, these two targets should be fine. But uh, how about php? Is it really good for that as well? Any hints or suggestions? Is haxe's builtin libraries ok for a simple web app or should I use a framework? Does neko have a httpRequest functionality at all?

Much gratitude in advance.

Gama11
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Need4Steed
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  • Is neko as server language not an option for you? I only once tried haxe php and it went well, but it was a very small project, not very deep. I recently heard nekovm is much faster than php. Haven't had time to compare it enough. Also *mod_neko* is probably rare in shared hosting services. – kapex Sep 20 '11 at 07:27
  • @kapep I don't own a server myself. Does any web hosting service provider offer mod_neko support? I seriously doubt that. Thanks for sharing your experience. – Need4Steed Sep 20 '11 at 07:34
  • I haven't searched for or seen any providers, the common way seems to be using a virtual private server as suggested [in this thread](http://lists.motion-twin.com/pipermail/haxe/2007-April/008698.html). Or a root server. Unfortunately not really an option for small projects. – kapex Sep 20 '11 at 07:52
  • thanks for your hearty help. I'll stick with php. – Need4Steed Sep 20 '11 at 14:19

1 Answers1

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The straight answer is that Haxe/PHP seems to really fit well for you. That because of you background. I used Haxe/PHP in several projects (it happens that I am also its author) and speed has never been an issue for me. If there are bottlenecks usually there are also ways to optimize those portions for better performances, and if in the end you application scales to billions of users you can always opt to switch to neko or a C++/cgi combo. About the frameworks there are a few options too: Web "frameworks" for Haxe to deploy in a PHP environment?

Gama11
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Franco Ponticelli
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  • Thanks, I'll give it a try. I've just read, the offical doc, the common standard library seems quite slim, looks like I have to use some framework. Is HaxIgniter a good choice? May I ask, which one is your favorite? – Need4Steed Sep 20 '11 at 14:16
  • My obvious choice is ufront and that is because I wrote it ;) Haxeigniter is a great project but is basically closed; its author Andreas helped me out a lot with ufront. – Franco Ponticelli Sep 22 '11 at 09:11