To the programmers out there - what is your favorite development suite? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Use VB.NET or C#.NET, Visual studio express can help for start but better you download the full version because it's much more powerful.
I don't recommend Access for database because it's single connection, for heavy database use something like SQL Server or Oracle but for small database use MySQL or SQL Lite (Bookmark demon use this).
If the database design is not too many or complicated then i will use regular text files because much easier to maintain when you upgrade the application.
My choice will be SQL Lite for more complex database because it requires zero installation.

Hope this helps.

Use VB.NET or C#.NET, Visual studio express can help for start but better you download the full version because it's much more powerful.
I don't recommend Access for database because it's single connection, for heavy database use something like SQL Server or Oracle but for small database use MySQL or SQL Lite (BMD use this).
If the database design is not too many or complicated then i will use regular text files because much easier to maintain when you upgrade the application.
My choice will be SQL Lite for more complex database because it requires zero installation.

Hope this helps.

PHP is by far my favorite programming language.

tony-raymondo said:

Oh ya.

I was kinda trying to avoid the adobe stuff though. Its pretty - but OH SO FREAKIN slow.

Click to expand...

ActionScript 3 is not only Adobe, but with over 95% world wide user who have on their pc an Adobe runtime I can say that this is where the money is.
Remember that every programming language has a different purpose. If you want to write server side code PHP is a great (commercially) solution, but for client side code the one solution is JavaScript. For mobile devices you can use Objective C but you'll find that Java is a must (Android and J2ME).

For mobile;
He could just use Titanium. Write Javascript once and run it on every mobile device, even the iPad.

When I develop C# (with .Net) I use Visual Studio 2010.

When I do webdev (php, html, javascript, SQL etc) I use notepad++.
It's clean, simple - and it gets the job done!

You will be doing keyword research?

Will the program be run locally or on a server?

If it's going to be on a server - PHP all the way!

If it's going to be locally - then Python ALL THE WAY! It has some great HTTP-libraries. C# is good with XML-data - but python has better HTTP libs.

Are you 100% sure that you need a "complex" database?
You could just output the queries into a text-file. Dirty, but it's gets the job done!

tony-raymondo said:

Just think, if you were going to build Micro Niche Finder or Market Samurai, from the ground up, which compiler would you use?

Lots of good recommendations thus far.

Click to expand...

I'm a fan of straight foward VB. Failing that C+.

As for your chosen topic. Ouch. Why compete with two such great programs? I mean there are massive holes in the whole SEO process. With WEB2.0 closing down on account creation, verification, e-mails, phones etc, there are a whole host of areas we need new ideas in.

IMO (and humble opinio) keyword research is as good now as it needs to be. MNF and MS are consistent performers. Quick , accurate and inexpensive.

If you are doing this commercially, it would be like setting up a Warcraft or Weight Loss blog and expecting to make money.

If you are doing it to learn though, then I guess that's a different matter.
I think a noob that understood the basics of programming but not a specific language - could have something up and running (and re-distributable) in VB inside a few days. C+ in a week, and server based stuff in a few weeks (though why people are so keen to have server processes running is something I've never figured out. perhaps some ISP's are less tolerant than mine.)


Scritty

@Banibe :good point. Seen grown men cry over DB config when a long string would have solved the problem in seconds - and been a damn site quicker (if nastier to look at code wise)

If this is something that you intend to use yourself, you should be able to accomplish what you want with Visual Studio Express and SQL Express. Both are free. If you want to package this up into an installer, and you want to go the Visual Studio route, check out at least the Professional Edition.

Without looking at your data, at 50 columns, you might want to see if you can normalize for efficiency. Chances are good you have at least a few redundant columns in there.

As far as learning goes, check out the book Head First SQL. You can pick it up at the book store or on any torrent site. Headfirst C# is good as well. I haven't seen a Head First VB book yet.

-SDT

tony-raymondo said:

You think i could do it all in visual studio express?

http://www.microsoft.com/express/Windows/

I definitely need a database engine because i will be dealing with files that contain 4,000 records and 50 columns that need to be sorted in various ways.

Click to expand...