Re: [Chicken-users] Choosing a programming language for a web project

[Graham Fawcett]

On 9/29/07, Jean-Philippe Théberge <address@hidden> wrote:
> I'm in the process of choosing a programming language.  I am investigating
> PHP5, Python, Ruby and, of course, Scheme.

Is it a one-developer project? If not, will your colleagues be
comfortable with Scheme?

Are the libraries you require available in Chicken; and if not, are
you willing to put in the time to develop them? If you're integrating
with existing C libraries, will you be comfortable working with the
FFI?

The SSAX tools are excellent; Chicken's database support is pretty
good; there are some nice eggs related to Web apps; and of course
there are loads of general application-development eggs. Review the
eggs list (http://call-with-current-continuation.org/eggs) if you
haven't already; to see what is available, and what you must develop
yourself.

If you have a "do-it-yourself" mentality, I think you will find
Chicken / Scheme very rewarding (as I certainly have). If you just
want to get your project done quickly, it may not be the right choice,
given the number of frameworks and libraries in Python and Ruby (and
given the unknown nature of your application).

Graham