What are the latest Web 2.0 online apps programmed with?

[Matisk]

So, what are the latest Web 2.0 applications using as their programming language?

I mean, twitter, pownce and all that good stuff. Are they developing everything with just HTML, CSS, PHP and MySQL or is there some other language in the mix?
Great responses so far...

If you could comment on the pros and cons of using Django or Ruby on Rails compared to LAMP, that would really help. Thanks!

[pender2112]

Pownce uses Django and MySQL on Debian Servers. Django is Python based Server side code.

Most use AJAX technology using (Javascript and XML obivously) - PHP, Ruby, Perl or ASP.NET engines with Apache or IIS hosts (for ASP). THe DB engine is MySQL, PostgreSQL, Firebird SQL or MS SQL Server (for ASP.NET). Some are designed in Adobe Flex.

The PHP, Ruby, ASP.NET engines render the native code to the client broswer as HTML for viewing in the browser. No Web2.0 apps use pure HTML.

Most are LAMP (Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP). The good hosts are BSD based.

[altarilg]

Heavy duty engines like Ruby on Rails - but it can be difficult [read : expensive] to find a [good] host to use it on.

AJAX and a LAMP [Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP] are the most common choices for your run-of-the-mill Web 2.0 goodness. AJAX is getting easier with environments like JQuery, which basically take the evil of JavaScript.

[deltawing1]

For smaller to medium applications, Ruby (on Rails) or PHP is commonly used. When PHP is used, it's usually used with a framework such as Symfony. For very large scale applications you commonly see J2EE with all sorts of frameworks on top.

The important thing to realize is that no language is better than the other. Good software engineering teaches you to pick the tools that fit the job. Never get caught up in the hype of a new language. Engineering good web applications is a lot more than the language used :-)

Hope that helped.