anyone know what shtml is, i think i should learn it

shtml files allow server-side includes (SSI). In my never-humble opinion, you don't need to learn them. Learn PHP and SSI is obsolete.

i have to agree, seems rather pointless, when you have PHP which you can build on your scripts more easily.

PHP rules :-)

Dan

Do you guys really think that PHP is the ONLY environment ?? Geez... we're not allowed to use PHP on our web servers, it's not 'approved software' and since we're stuck with being a MS shop, all our development is c# and .Net, so we have to use SSI.

Learn how to use them, it's not difficult, you never know when you might need it.

Lol, Okay so it isnt the only one but it has alot going for it, easy to use tons of free scripts and support on the net, its free, can be installed on any operating system (i think)...

Just saying its good to know

Dan

I must agree with Lady. There is something incredibly stupid about many corporate environments that would actually disallow superior free technology in favor of costly MS technology. We must occasionally compensate for this stupidity by learning pointless things in case we need them someday.

I'm lucky, I guess. I own my own business, so things run what I want them to run. That said, I hate Microsoft so much that I've managed to keep my usage of their crap down to only the operating system (don't believe MS stuff is crap? Just read the news about Vista!). I digress. I had a professor in college who once told me, "The happiest day in my mathematical life [he was a math prof] was the day I realized I couldn't learn it all; I only had to learn my little sub-field really well." I've taken that advice to heart and chosen my niche in programming and try to do it really well. It won't be everyone's niche and I wasn't trying to imply anything against such languages as C++, Perl, and Ruby (you can always assume an implicit jab at Microsoft though). It is true, also, that having a number of tools under your belt is helpful, and I've known how to program in C++, Perl, Apple II-E Basic, C# (and possibly a few others), but with lack of use comes lack of recollection. If I get stuck and absolutely need to use one of those, then I can usually hack my way through a few tutorials fairly quickly. Knowledge of general programming concepts will help you in that event for most languages.

No offense to those who love other languages -- I understand your passion. Mine just happens to be different.

i think im kinda the same, at the moment i am focusing on PHP, i want to become really good at it, i want to also try and learn VB in college so i can have a go at making some simple Desktop Apps, and get good at them, i would like to possibly in the future get more and more confident with them and become world famous
lol
Dan

I strongly believe that the best thing you can do for your career as a "developer" is to be as versatile as you possibly can.

That being said, learning shtml, if you can apply it successfully for even jsut one project.. wouldnt be a bad thing at all.

I dont agree about the MS thing though.. but of course, thats my bread and butter, Microsoft technologies.. and it has done me no wrong at all.

We must occasionally compensate for this stupidity by learning pointless things in case we need them someday.

Amen to that !

If this were MY shop, we wouldn't be using Windows Servers and we would be using PHP... at least we'd be able to offer Wordpress as an alternative for web sites. There are .Net CMS's, but from what I've seen, I'm not at ALL impressed.

My personal preference at home is to NOT use anything Microsoft beyond the OS. I do not and will not use Outlook or Outlook Express for email (nothing like INVITING worms and viruses into your house); I will NOT use MS Office - it's over-bloated and way too costly (and I hate it), I use OpenOffice, IMO far superior to Office. Aside from IE, because of what I do for a living, I just don't use MS products outside of work - where they are enslaved to MS.

I strongly believe that the best thing you can do for your career as a "developer" is to be as versatile as you possibly can.

Absolutely agree 100%

Originally Posted by LadynRed

My personal preference at home is to NOT use anything Microsoft beyond the OS. I do not and will not use Outlook or Outlook Express for email (nothing like INVITING worms and viruses into your house); I will NOT use MS Office - it's over-bloated and way too costly (and I hate it), I use OpenOffice, IMO far superior to Office. Aside from IE, because of what I do for a living, I just don't use MS products outside of work - where they are enslaved to MS.

Yea! I use OO too as well as Thunderbird. I love your usage of "enslaved". Very apropos.

I have a buddy that was once let go from a job after he saved the company thousands of dollars by switching their servers to Linux/Apache. The system was not only far less costly, but ran much quicker than the Microsoft servers. The company told him, upon letting him go, that he would be better off learning to think "inside the box". He now has a job making three times what he did.

Thats bizzare.. Ive been developing on MS based products (as well as Linux and Java) for well over a decade as well.. and my experience has been fairly pleasant.. WAY more so than in the linux space to be honest..

I guess people just have their comfort realm and decide when and where to draw these lines..soto each their own. I welcome the vendor neutral office and desktop suites.. I say more more more.. simply because competition drives up quality and performance and drives down cost.

And I say if you havnt seen any "good" .NET based CMS systems, then maybe you should take another look..

Do you think that it is possible that Google did a cost/performance analysis before deciding not to use any Microsoft technologies?

I'm sure there are positive things about Microsoft products, but for me they create way too much of a headache. I remember trying to code something in C# last year and had problem after problem with their default widgets -- especially the dataviewgrid (if memory serves on the name). Total pain in the booty. Gave it up, converted the product to a web-based app, and refuse to take on desktop apps now -- I'll stick with what I'm better at.

@wayfarer: Too funny!

And I say if you havnt seen any "good" .NET based CMS systems, then maybe you should take another look..

Oh, we have looked, repeatedly. Most of them rely on nasty tables-based layout, which I despise. I've seen what dotnetnuke is and does.. it's horrible to work with. The community server from MS, MAJORLY overpriced compared to FREE Wordpress. Many require the very expensive SQL Server. Considering the very restrictive environment we have to work within, the .Net options are just not there, and they're not at all up to par.

Well DNN is just one option.. Its a pain to some degree if you are unfamiliar with it.. actually my biggest complaint about DNN is that its often way more than you need and its difficult to trim up..
But the Whole Table layout thing? actually almost every CMS product Ive worked with allow you to specify a "theme" or "skin" to the site.. so the laout is up to you.. div away with Dot Net Nuke.. its WICKED simple to do.. just create your HTML and CSS however you like it and add a few placeholders like [LoginUser] and it just works.. But you might not have got that far.

SQL server, has SQL Server Express... which is free btw..

In fact you can go complete open source CMS in .NET with only the cost of the Host OS license.. With native Active Directory support and extensible components.. Just a thought..

Of course there is also SharePoint.. which, well cost money.. but to some organizations thats actually a PLUS.. because they know when they buy in, they are buying into a complete system. IM just saying, they are out there.. and they are great products..

We have Sharepoint here, but no way I'd use it to build web sites. Our biggest problem is the very restrictive environment forced on us by corporate IT. I'm aware of the ability to skin DNN, and others.

We're drifting off-topic here though