Yes FREE dev tools..
They are scaled down version..
You said it.
Now judging ASP.net is subjective it depends what you're comparing it to. It is ages better than classic ASP, i agree. But comparing it to other languages doing the same thing, it sucks.
.NET supports OOP
So does PHP5, Java, Python, Ruby.. all used for web development. Today OO is a mature tech so they are all at similar levels of competency, but still Java and Ruby are a step ahead.
LESS development time
Again less than with classic ASP, and Java perhaps. But not less than with PHP or Ruby on Rails or even Zope. All the languages now have very powerful development platforms mostly based on the MVC pattern. But you can also develop ASP style (even driven) using PHP with platforms such as Prado.
better code management
The whole principle of the .NET platform relies on this. And it's actually its weakest point. In order for .NET to have "better code management" all your code written in all different languages is transformed to MIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language) to be compiled on the fly by the .NET compiler.. Performance wise, it's the worst solution. High fly application need some sections to be written in machine code in order to optimise it coz the compilers aren't performant enough.. Adding an intermediate transformation layer between the code you wrote and the compilation ain't the way to go.
You can build a database driven site in 5 minutes using asp.net can you say the same about PHP?
Definitely. N if you don't wanna write the code yourself, check Symfony, CakePHP, Zend Platform and of course all the GPLd CMSes..
If you use PHP then your company's expertise is limited to that. If you use .NET you can hire a C++ programmer, J#, java, c#, vb, COBOL and the list goes on.
Hear hear. Can't argue on this point. Actually it's the main selling pitch of microsoft. Heard of the babel tower?
Ya you can run java but you can you convert your existing desktop application written in C++ to a web application?
Perhaps it's not as simple as with .NET, but doing it ain't the best programming practice.. For desktop dev i think the main disadvantage of Java is the ugliness of its gui..
NLESS you go with MONO and run it under linux.
Yeah.. it's more of a desperate solution.. Coz reverse engineering a platform ain't the best thing for performance.. + microsoft could break the compatibility of mono in any update and they already did it with Samba.
Yeah a lot of sites do use .NET but also a lot of site use Java, PHP and Python. is .NET good? yeah.. is it the best? i don't think..
Don't worry about hijacking the thread.. This kind of discussion is always interesting.. perhaps Samer or a mod could split the topic so we could continue discussing ;)
Edit: lol sorry for the long post:p