There are a lot of languages in common use for web development. Each language will have it’s own advocacy group saying why you should use that language over any other. But how do you really decide which language to put your effort into learning and risk your project’s success on?

The idea behind this site is to take a real project, with real requirements and specifications and develop it in an (expanding) selection of popular web development languages and document the process. To find what the pit-falls of plumping for PHP would be for this project. Where would Python come unstuck? Does Ruby On Rails impose too much structure for the project to succeed?

On this site, I will document a requirements specification, GUI Design and Database Schema for a “Social Networking” “Web 2.0″ project. I will then proceed to implement that project in a variety of languages and technologies, documenting the quick wins and struggles on the way inspired by the language that I am working in at the time.

This should provide prospective web developers a realistic examination of their options for their next (or their first!) development project.

Why InAnger? We say that something has been used “in anger” in the software world when a piece of software or technology has been used in it’s real target environment. You really don’t know what a language is like until you have used it “in anger” to deliver a project. And that is a big risk. InAnger.com exists to do exactly that, and show you what happens on the way.

I’m not seeking to teach you to program in a language, that subject is covered very well in numerous other places. I’m seeking to show what happens when you really program in a set of languages.

On the way, I also intend to document useful things that will help you. Development tools and environments. I’ll be describing how I’ve set up a portable development environment on a USB key so I can hack away whereever I am and how I’ve got my Web Browsers configured up for optimal development. I’ll be giving my opinions on IDE’s and development tools. Indeed I’ll also use this as a blog for other interesting technology related posts. That may well be the meat of the content for the first few months while I get the plans rolling in the background for the main content.
However; when it comes to the languages, the meat of this subject, I will try and stick to the facts and avoid too much opinion. To enable you to understand where I am coming from, and to provide some form of disclosure of my position and prejudices up front, here’s a quick summary of my technical skills and experience.

Popularity: 2% [?]