Web Development

whats the best language to use for web development?

ASP.NET
PHP
Java
coldFusion
Ruby
Python
....perl?

Depends on your level or ability.

Php/Mysql is ideal for beginners due to it's forgiving learning curve and ability to fudge everything with multiple query runs.

PERL is the best for advanced - if you know what you're doing - it is fuckwin.

Ruby/Rails is a lovely middle ground - Rails is a godsend for rapidly prototyping applications and then building around a structure as opposed to building and coding every last fucking thing from scratch.

Java sucks balls - mostly due to the JVM. Loading times are not your friend.

ASP? i dont know. .NET is balls for the most part.

AJAX is a nice other route to go down. Instant browser compatability(no install necessary!) and the ability to make rather fast-loading and dynamic sites is quite cool.