Ask HN: Web Language + Framework Most "Comfortable" for Desktop Coders?
First some background. I've been a developer for 11 years and have dabbled with pretty much everything, though my forte is system programming in C/C++ on Windows and *nix. For the past 5 years, I've been doing some light web programming on the side in the form of small- to mid-size projects in PHP, Perl, and ASP.NET.
I'm currently contemplating signing on as a cofounder for a foreign startup that I feel has a chance of really making it big, but I won't bore you with my justifications. Point is, I'm going to be the developer for this project (the other cofounders are a businessman and marketing guy).... and I need some help picking a platform.
I'm in love with C, C++, and C#. The former two for the control they give me and the latter for its clean abstractions and well-designed high-level interface. However, I can't find a web language/platform that fits with the software developer mentality.
JSP is a mess from a deployment/compatibility/maintenance perspective and totally out of the question. Most of my previous web projects have been in PHP and IMHO there's no way to maintain it past a certain point and the language itself is a nightmare, regardless of how you design the project. Besides these two, I'm open to pretty much any and all suggestions.
I've dabbled with both Python and Perl though I'd be lying to myself if I claim to be well-enough versed in either to come to a conclusion regarding their use. ASP.NET is just beautiful... except I feel it tries to apply the desktop programming paradigm too literally onto web development, and you end up with an awkward templating system with a slightly-perverted MVC model.
Basically, I want to code the system right and make it future-maintainable. From years of coding experience, I know it's not possible to make anything perfect, but you can at least make something comfortable to maintain and fun to write.. so long as you have the right tools in hand.
Can anyone recommend a Python, Perl, C#, or even C++ web development framework that works well for developers coming from the desktop (with our OOP obsession, pointer-fiddling, and OCD optimization compulsions)? I've downloaded a couple of the more popular frameworks, but if I want to do it right, it'll way too long to try them all out and do them justice without rushing to conclusions... and I'm hoping someone here has had a similar experience of coming to the web development scene from desktop programming and has some tips to offer.
Thanks!