In the wide world of web design there are so many different types of programming out there if I told you about each one it would fill up your head and leak out your ears. When is comes down to a website’s programming though there are two broad types of websites; static and dynamic. Deciding which of these types would benefit you and/or your company more comes down to the differences in each.

          The definition of static is fixed; or unchanging. This is exactly what you get when you have a static website. A static site is one that is built completely in HTML. This means that it is built once and that is it. All the information and content on it says the same forever. That is, unless you know HTML coding and can go into the files to switch the content around. Most people who have websites built for them do not know how to do this. Also if you were to know how to change around you own content, there is the risk of you accidentally breaking the design of the site while you’re in there. This is not easily fixed by one that doesn’t know the coding. The last problem I see with static websites is that the website visitor doesn’t really get as much out of it. Static websites are basically a bunch of content/information provided in a webpage format. Although it seems as if a static website would be a pain to have and almost useless if you have content that needs to be changed; it does have some benefits. Developing a static website is fast because there isn’t anything really to it. It is cheap as well, cheap to develop and cheap to host which is great for someone on a lower budget.

          A dynamic website has a little more to it and is basically the exact opposite of a static website. With a dynamic website the programmer builds you something usually referred to as an admin panel. This panel allows you to be able to go in and change around you content without having to mess with any of the actual files or coding of the site. It’s usually built so that it is very easy to understand. This panel can be programmed into the website so you can add or remove content, pictures, whatever you need. Although a dynamic website is the more useful of the two it is also more expensive because of all the extra programming that has to go into it. It also takes longer to develop because it has to be customized to do exactly what you need it to. In the long run though a dynamic website will be better for your business because it bring customers/visitors back. With content changing frequently they won’t be bored or have seen the same thing each time they visit. Also, adding new content to your site frequently will help with being found by the search engines.

          In the end, if you want to have a successful website you really should think about what kind of website suits you. This would be the most beneficial approach for any business owner. Deciding which is better; having a static website or a dynamic is really a case by case decision. Choose wisely. For more information about web design take a look at DreamCo Design - Web Design.

Categories: Web Programming
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ASP = Active Server Pages.

You can always count on good ol’ Microsoft to try to do their own thing and launch their own great programming languages. Many websites and web based applications have gone away from .ASP in recent years and this can be seen simply by browsing the web. You will see a lot of the older websites that have shopping carts, or database applications use .ASP, which is fine in some cases but not always.

Unlike PHP / MYSQL, .ASP can be very difficult to work with and it is a lot more proprietary. A developer working with .ASP can easily set the website up to be difficult to be modified unless being modified by him or someone that knows how it was setup. There are just a few ways to really use the code and apply it to get the same result. Thus you get hostage held websites that only the original guy can work on.

Newer versions of .ASP / .NET are actually stable and are good for large websites and large web based applications. Smaller sites, and online stores have no real need for this language though and utilizing it would be forcing something that is not needed.

Though our company has people well rounded in .ASP / .NET we rarely apply it. Typically most applications can be done using PHP / MYSQL, and if security is a major concern, there are other languages out there that are considered first.

The bottom line is that microsoft continues to shove this language down the throats of programmers and people go to school specifically for it, but today it makes up a small percentage of what is utilized. We consider .ASP great for very specific and large projects, but potentially the worst solution to apply for common sites needing programming. I guess it is all in the opinion of the programmer though, just like the visual side of web design.

Categories: ASP / .NET
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Regular Expressions Tutorial

It’s very hard to find one complete source for information on the internet to learn about regular expressions in PHP. It’s one of the most intimidating things when coding using PHP, especially when you’re still trying to learn about it. The collection below is all of the information I could collect on and about regular expressions in PHP and I figured it would be a good idea to post them here so others didn’t have the same problems as I have had in the past. I have included links to the websites I pulled the information from, and if I didn’t then I got it from the main PHP.net website.

Enjoy!

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Categories: PHP, Web Programming
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