How many programming languages are there for developing websites?

Why are there various different programming languages for web developers?





What are the specific reason a web developer would use a specific programming language?





Please list and explain the purpose of each programming language.





Thanks.

How many programming languages are there for developing websites?
There are literally NO limits to the number of programming languages for developing websites. As long as a programmer can spit out HTML to clients through a web server (or if the programming MADE a server themselves), then it can be used. Though let me give you the most popular solutions:





Microsoft-centric solutions mostly involve the .NET framework with the following languages:





C# - a Java like programming language for those who want a bit more power and control over larger projects





VBScript - a scripting language with its roots based on the BASIC language with a pinch of object oriented syntax. This is mostly for quick hack web sites.





Open sourced solutions:





PHP - this is a popular choice for small to large scale projects (Yahoo uses this!) PHP is simple to learn and get things up and running.





Python/Perl - these languages are useful for doing any task on a computer, and one of these uses are for CGI programming.





Ruby and the Rails framework - this is the latest buzz in the industry. It provides a very CLEAN model-view-controller framework for web developers to code very clean object code.








Here are reasons programmers have for choosing a language:





1. How much of the language is built for web development?


2. Will the language allow for scalability?


3. Is it easy to implement code that is maintained by a team?


4. How stable is it?


5. Which platform is supported?