FWIW, if you are running a website, and it's mostly static content that doesn't require a database, I'd recommend either a static site generator, or even just hosting on GitHub pages with one of their pre-built themes.

Even content that changes, like calendars, or tweet streams can be embedded into a static HTML page without requiring a database.

If you absolutely need to run a server, python's flask framework is quite beginner friendly, with many active plugins and 3rd party libraries available to connect to whatever database you'd like.

Hope this helps,
--RemyD.

On Jan 23, 2018 13:53, "Justin W. Flory" <jflory7@gmail.com> wrote:
On 01/23/2018 02:45 PM, Chris Bitler wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I've been trying to figure out what to use as the backend technology for
> my FOSS Projects project, since it is a website, specifically a site for
> college gaming clubs to run large LAN events. I've narrowed it down to
> the javaspark microwebserver library, spring-boot in java, or using
> symfony w/ php. However, each of these has their own problems.
>

Hey Chris, this is a great discussion for the mailing list – thanks for
starting this here.

From a technical POV, I am not an expert, so I can't advise on what
project is better for the work you'd like to do. I think that's
something for you to research. I have a few thoughts on other things.

> Spark seems to have commits made to it every few weeks, but it has pull
> requests that been sitting there with no response for over half a year.
> The same could be said about the issues on the project, many have no
> response. This presents an issue with the community aspect.
>

This makes me skeptical. Especially since you are looking to contribute
to a project, I see this as a frustrating experience if you put in work
and don't get any feedback. It doesn't seem like the maintainers
prioritize community contributions.

> If I use java for the project, I could use JUnit as my community instead
> (unit testing tool that I would be using). The reason for using java is
> that it presents a lower barrier to entry for contributing to the
> project than PHP, and I have more experience with it than PHP.
>

JUnit seems fair. I would research their community to support your decision.

> However, Symfony has a much more active community with many more
> resources for people to use in the community. My only issue is that PHP
> tends to be a higher barrier to people contributing to the project
> because not everyone knows or likes it.
>

I have a qualm with this, maybe only because I saw this tweet this morning:

    https://twitter.com/joshsimmons/status/955327749639487488

Since you are developing a web application, I think you will find more
people able to help with it as a JS / PHP project. While Java web
servers are in use, I don't know if they're the most common platform. I
think you could better connect with an audience of front-end and
back-end web developers by using a PHP project. And I think more people
are familiar or comfortable with it than you know too. :)

> I'm not really sure what would be the best path to take here, and would
> love some opinions.
>

Again, this isn't really technical advice, but some of my thoughts based
on your situation. Hope this is helpful.

--
Cheers,
Justin W. Flory
jflory7@gmail.com


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