application and web app technologies

[Harpo]

ccc wrote:

> 
> We don't have any 'programmers' on staff. At most, we have several
> people writing, maybe, two hours  of code a week,

Fine !

> with maybe once a 
> year building an application. We are just your basic IT shop, system
> and network administration, hardware, help desk, the web site, and
> database administration. This is also the reason for the 'bad code' (
> which we have in abundance.) People who are not programmers and whose
> job it isn't to program will not write good code. I'm not being
> perjorative, just factual.

Let's be positive : 2 hours of bad code a week is better than 40 hours
of bad code a week.

And what is bad code and what is good code ? Your problem doesn't seem
to be a programming issue, Often, the problem is not at this level,
trying to find 'the good language' is just spending time, there is no
'good language', it is just a thing that doesn't exist in the real
life,

Gathering code to make an heteroclitic system is never a good solution,
threwing heterodoxic code (but maybe good code) to the trashcan is not
a good solution, rewriting in another language is painful and bug
prone, therefore not a good solution if not the worst.

In the real life, there is no good solution but many false problems.
Your problem in not a programming problem but a liability problem, not
seeing this problem will give more problems.

What do you expect ? You crosspost to perl, python, java and ruby NGs,
Do you want me to say 'Ruby is better' ? This would be stupid.

You have Perl code that you seem to find non understandable ? Does it
work ? If it works, it's ok but it would have been better if you
understood why.

My advice : Just don't touch anything.

FU2