Picking a Development Language

Some developers have a mind-set that their particular language is the only perfect language in the world and they never plan to use anything else. I'd love to say these developers are really onto something because it would greatly reduce the efforts I go to in order to maintain proficiency with multiple languages. The sad truth is the world has yet to discover the perfect language and probably never will. Some development languages work best for one situation, and others work best in another situation. Good developers either realize the limitations of the one language they do know or have multiple languages available in their programming toolkit.

Of course, the question is how language choice affects your use of Google Web Services. Look through the examples in this book. You'll notice that all of the examples return a result from a simply constructed request. The problem is using the data you receive in some useful way. Displaying a search result with XSLT isn't a problem and you can add scripting to the resulting page to make it more flexible, but trying to build a high-end application using this technique is difficult. The sections that follow won't tell you specifically which language to use to meet your development needs, but it will help you match a language to a specific kind of project.

Choosing a Language That Meets Specific Needs

Some developers look at me rather strangely when I tell them that I develop applications in VBA (the macro language used in products such as IMSI TurboCAD, Corel Draw, and Microsoft Office) about as often as I do in other languages such as C++ or C#. I find that using VBA provides me with a way to quickly prototype Office-specific applications and reduce the user 's learning curve by using an environment they already know. In addition, VBA is enough like other languages I know that I don't have a big learning curve to contend with every time I start a new project. That's also the reason you'll find a VBA chapter in this book.

In fact, the language-specific chapters (Chapters 5 through 9) each demonstrate the functionality provided by a specific language. For example, the VBA examples deal with tasks you can perform more easily in Office than you can any other environment, such as creating reports or generating lists of potential information resources. Office also makes it easy to perform some types of statistical analysis, such as the frequency of Web site appearance for given search terms. Chapter 5 shows how to perform statistical analysis and generate graphs.

However, VBA and Office don't provide the level of accessibility needed for some tasks and you definitely wouldn't want to set up a Web site that relies on VBA. The other chapters in the book cover other kinds of applications such as a Web site spelling checker, along with the information you have always provided to perform a search (keywords). The idea is to select a language that meets the needs of the application so that you don't become frustrated trying to use a hammer where a screwdriver would work better.

Considering Your Skills and Abilities

It would be easy to assume that you want and can devote hours to your Google project simply because you're reading this book. However, the fact is that many of you have time constraints and probably don't have much of an inclination to become a developer (unless you're already a professional developer). Along with considering the needs of the application, you also have to consider your skills and abilities. Trying to develop a complex analysis program when all you really know how to do is write a little HTML is going to become frustrating ”you might never finish the project.

The development language you choose has to match the project, but it also has to match your skills and abilities. Often, the choice of language determines just how much you should attempt to do with Google Web Services. In other cases, you might know that you want to perform certain tasks, but that the programming language skills you possess don't quite fit in with your plans. The planning process can point out the need to call in a consultant to help with the programming part of the job. In addition, by knowing your skills and understanding the needs of the job, you can find a developer with the qualifications you need.

Honestly assessing your skills and abilities can have another effect. One person I know went back to school to learn Web application development skills. The person didn't have nearly as many time constraints as he did cash flow problems (a consultant was out of the question). Although he didn't graduate with a degree in computer science, this person now knows how to maintain a Web site that has built his business. In short, this book might help you choose a programming language that you want to learn to use Google Web Services to meet a specific need effectively.

Defining Language Limitations

Part of the design process is to understand the limitations of the language you choose. You must consider both the current application requirements and those that you need to address in the future. Moving an application from one language to another is definitely not a fun task. Consequently, you need to consider what you plan to do today and how you plan to expand the application in the future. In some cases, accomplishing this task means defining the limitations of the language.

If you choose JavaScript to create an application for your Web site, it's going to be quite flexible and most browsers won't have a problem accessing the information. In addition, you can perform most Google Web Services tasks without buying an expensive server or incurring many startup costs. JavaScript is the low-price solution for many developers. However, JavaScript is hardly the most robust programming language, and you'll find your expansion opportunities limited. For example, this probably isn't the right choice for creating complex reports, but it's a good solution if you want to offer a means to perform quick searches for products or other information.

You might think that Java or Visual Basic .NET will solve all of your development problems. They're certainly robust enough to help you perform any task you might want to do. However, I probably wouldn't use either language if my main goal were tracking product statistics. In addition, both Java and Visual Basic .NET require the skills of a good programmer to create successful applications. Good programmers don't come cheap ”plan to spend quite a bit to create the Web application of your dreams.