Oh this seems interesting and I hope that unlike Reddit posts about PHP this will not degenerate into another flame post. So first off I would initially recomm

Oh this seems interesting and I hope that unlike Reddit posts about PHP this will not degenerate into another flame post. So first off I would initially recommend using PHP as it is something you already know. Learning Python is cool(although I must confess I'm more of a Ruby user) but in the interest of getting something up and running quickly. And factor in that you already know PHP. It would do you some good to learn a good PHP framework to rapidly build your app and get something out there immediately. A framework not only makes you look smart but it requires you to write code that does not merit you getting stabbed in your sleep. Ergo good PHP code. Now we can all wax rhetoric that PHP does not support Functional idioms, brain dead functions, and name spaces. But in the interest of rapid prototyping and ease of deployment PHP comes first in mind. PHP frameworks now most notably Symfony(used by Yahoo to rewrite Delicious), CakePHP, Akelos, Kohana and my personal favorite CodeIgniter changed my opinion of PHP. You can easily abstract away logic using these frameworks. And they picked out some functions out of PHP's bewildering list of functions so that you have a solid base to work with. So in a nut shell it's possible to write good PHP code but you have to exercise some discipline for it not to turn into spaghetti code. Another reason you might want to carefully choose a language is the type of application you want for it. Let me explain, my company makes web based applications that customers can host within their corporate server. Now I don't want to waste much time trying to configure the server to run a specialize application. In fact I need something that can be installed and used right away in the shortest amount of time. So my choice of using PHP is more of a business decision as well. So just weigh things out and ask yourself what do you wish to accomplish. Right tool for the right job. edit: oh please consider reading this book http://www.manning.com/reiersol/ http://www.manning.com/reiersol/ makes a good study on how to write good PHP code.