Programming Languages - Do They Matter?

Quite a few times a day we will have a prospective customer call in and ask us which language we code in. They will not have any development skills and they will not be interested in taking over the development of their site one day. Their site will not even be created yet. Simple fact is - they have a language preference because someone has convinced them this is important to the success of their site.

We use Adobe Coldfusion and have done so since 1999. This makes us experts in Coldfusion and there is very little a Coldfusion application can do that we have not seen before. On top of this is the fact that our developers are really good. Reality though is that if we had a .NET application forced on us and there was a tiny bug in there we would probably take all day to work out what the hell was going on. Does this make Coldfusion better than .NET? Of course not - it only makes it better for us and our particular skill-set.

It's a bit like the obsession people have with Mac v. PC or with their football team v. anyone else's. The differences are largely personal and great outcomes can be achieved with any choice provided the tool is used the right way. PHP, Coldfusion or .NET - take your pick. Our advice is to first select the best developers for your needs. Budget, speed, ability, style and personality - these are the things you need to be comfortable with. You are then best using the platform that allows them to do their highest quality work.