MS Frontpage and Access replacement

I switched from MS to Redhat Linux 7.3 and am trying to adjust to the 'new world'. So far I'm a very happy camper with the new software programs that have replaced the old MS ones. I need advice though on one issue. I manage a few websites (for fun....nothing major, mostly as a hobby) and have always relied on Frontpage and Microsoft Access. This web combo made it real easy for me to build ASP's to frontend the MS Access db's. I've tried to learn MySQL as that is now my web host's offering (I switched to a Linux web host when I switched by home machines to Linux). I do like MySQL very much but I'd sure like an easy way to build those ASP's.

My questions:

1. What software is best for web development in the Linux world?

2. I really don't know beans about PHP but is this the best way to build pages to communicate with my new MySQL server databases? Or am I missing something here and there is something better?

3. What should I focus my learning efforts on to best manage web sites backed by MySQL. Is Perl something worth learning too?

4. What is the best MySQL GUI front end? I'm doing everything at the command line now (it's o.k. but sometimes a GUI is nice).

TIA -David Kistner

First thing I'd do is get the Amaya package for web page design. http://www.w3.org/Amaya/User/cvs.html

Well, 'better' is subjective, php and mysql go together well, but there are many other interfaces, both to mysql and php.

Perl is good to know for many reasons. You won't need to use it if you're using php->mysql, though.

Check the mysql web site, they have a mysqlgui client, but I've never used it.

and C++ are my personal favorites. Perl has it's moments too. I would hire an ace PHP coder over someone who knows a little bit about 5 languages, any day of the week. Once you learn a language well, learn another one. I would hire an ace in three languages over a single language ace.

IDE's : I like NetBeans and Programmers File Editor.(PFE) get PFE from zdnet. Then again, I do things the hard way.

PHP is one of my favorite scripting languages. It easily connects to any database. PHP is also cross platform. It will run on Windows and Solaris as well as Linux. It is almost as universal as Perl, but specifically geared towards web programming. Perl is more general purpose.

Perl is definitely worth learning. There are better (easier to use) languages for programming CGI (putting on my flame retardant underwear) such as PHP. Perl is overkill for CGI. I personally prefer PHP or Java. I use Perl for system admin stuff, and maintaining existing Perl CGI's. It all boils down to personal preference. Perl can be used for a wider range of tasks, so is definitely worth learning. You can also OOP with it if you are so inclined. You can OOP with PHP too though. In java, you are forced to OOP by the very nature of the language.

Learning the command line interface is important. There is a lot of stuff that cannot be done any other way. However, if you can find shortcuts in your daily work, take them. An hour saved is an hour at happy hour.

Go to MySQL's site and get DBTools from the Contrib section. It runs on Windows, and can import other types of databases, and replicate the structure in MySQL. I love it personally. I have converted many access db's to MySQL with this tool. It has saved me *months* of manual labor. It is also a good general purpose GUI front end.

replaced the old MS ones. I need advice >though on one issue. I manage a few websites (for fun....nothing major, mostly as a hobby)and have always relied >on Frontpage and Microsoft Access. This web combo made it real easy for me to build ASP's to frontend the MS >Access db's. I've tried to learn MySQL as that is now my web host's offering (I switched to a Linux web host when >I switched by home machines to Linux). I do like MySQL very much but I'd sure like an easy way to build those pages to communicate with my new MySQL >server databases? Or am I missing something here and there is something better? backed by MySQL. Is Perl something worth >learning too? command line now (it's o.k. but sometimes a >GUI is nice).

Check out www.thekompany.com
http://www.thekompany.com/products/dataarchitect should solve the SQL issue and for webdesign there is Quanta+ Gold which is pretty good.

Matthew Gardiner

I use KMySQLAdmin when I'm using the GUI