Hi.

There is a startup in New Zealand that I have some dealings with at present. They have build most of their original code in PHP, (as this was quick and easy) but they also use some C#.net for interfacing to accounting appls on clients machines. The core PHP application runs in the cloud at present and talks to accountings applications in the cloud. They use the PHP symfony framework.

High speed in not important, but accuracy, error handling, and scalability is, as they are processing accounting transactions. They have a new CEO on board, and he would like to review the companies technical direction.

Their client base is small but growing quickly.  I know that PHP is not a great language, and my knowledge of D is reasonable, while I have poor knowledge of C#.net.

Looking to the future, as volumes grow, they could:
1.  Stay with PHP & C#.net, and bring on servers as volumes grow.
2.  Migrate to C#.net in time
3.  Migrate to D in time.

Any comments or suggestions on the above?

On Monday, 15 June 2015 at 23:53:06 UTC, Nick B wrote:
> Hi.
>
> There is a startup in New Zealand that I have some dealings with at present. They have build most of their original code in PHP, (as this was quick and easy) but they also use some C#.net for interfacing to accounting appls on clients machines. The core PHP application runs in the cloud at present and talks to accountings applications in the cloud. They use the PHP symfony framework.
>
> High speed in not important, but accuracy, error handling, and scalability is, as they are processing accounting transactions. They have a new CEO on board, and he would like to review the companies technical direction.
>
> Their client base is small but growing quickly.  I know that PHP is not a great language, and my knowledge of D is reasonable, while I have poor knowledge of C#.net.
>
> Looking to the future, as volumes grow, they could:
> 1.  Stay with PHP & C#.net, and bring on servers as volumes grow.
> 2.  Migrate to C#.net in time
> 3.  Migrate to D in time.
>
> Any comments or suggestions on the above?

We have seen this before. I believe the verdict was..."Experiment" first, if things
seem like they will work out with D. Go full force. But from the sound of your situation it seems there is no time for experimentation.

The best you could do is tell your boss the pros and cons of D and ask if he can give you some time to test things out first. But i doubt they will listen to the insight of a normal employee...unless you have a good reputation?

On 16/06/2015 11:53 a.m., Nick B wrote:
> Hi.
>
> There is a startup in New Zealand that I have some dealings with at
> present. They have build most of their original code in PHP, (as this
> was quick and easy) but they also use some C#.net for interfacing to
> accounting appls on clients machines. The core PHP application runs in
> the cloud at present and talks to accountings applications in the cloud.
> They use the PHP symfony framework.
>
> High speed in not important, but accuracy, error handling, and
> scalability is, as they are processing accounting transactions. They
> have a new CEO on board, and he would like to review the companies
> technical direction.
>
> Their client base is small but growing quickly.  I know that PHP is not
> a great language, and my knowledge of D is reasonable, while I have poor
> knowledge of C#.net.
>
> Looking to the future, as volumes grow, they could:
> 1.  Stay with PHP & C#.net, and bring on servers as volumes grow.
> 2.  Migrate to C#.net in time
> 3.  Migrate to D in time.
>
> Any comments or suggestions on the above?

Hello follow Kiwi!

First off I would stress that architecture and process are more important than which of those 3 languages you choose, i.e. good testing (I prefer test driven), continuous integration, and a solid architecture that you are confident will provide the reliability, correctness  and uptime that you require.

Having said that I would then personally be conservative and choose to standardise on C# for its maturity, expressiveness and great tooling. It also has a good ecosystem (libraries etc.) which will prove very useful in business related tasks.

D has better expressiveness and probably would run faster but given all the other factors I would be concerned right now about its slight lack of maturity and under-developed ecosystem.

On Monday, 15 June 2015 at 23:53:06 UTC, Nick B wrote:
> Hi.
>
> There is a startup in New Zealand that I have some dealings with at present. They have build most of their original code in PHP, (as this was quick and easy) but they also use some C#.net for interfacing to accounting appls on clients machines. The core PHP application runs in the cloud at present and talks to accountings applications in the cloud. They use the PHP symfony framework.
>
> High speed in not important, but accuracy, error handling, and scalability is, as they are processing accounting transactions. They have a new CEO on board, and he would like to review the companies technical direction.
>
> Their client base is small but growing quickly.  I know that PHP is not a great language, and my knowledge of D is reasonable, while I have poor knowledge of C#.net.
>
> Looking to the future, as volumes grow, they could:
> 1.  Stay with PHP & C#.net, and bring on servers as volumes grow.
> 2.  Migrate to C#.net in time
> 3.  Migrate to D in time.
>
> Any comments or suggestions on the above?

Both C# and D sound like good fits there. It depends on whether it's the sort of team who like to innovate and explore new possibilities or whether they want a completely fleshed out, stable ecosystem.

D can make boring work interesting: endless boiler-plate can be neatly abstracted and many models* can be expressed JustRight™ as opposed to being shoehorned in to a standard abstraction. C# is also pretty good at this (sometimes), but D has a significant edge.

On Tuesday, 16 June 2015 at 06:29:46 UTC, Rikki Cattermole wrote:
> On 16/06/2015 11:53 a.m., Nick B wrote:
>> Hi.
>>
>> There is a startup in New Zealand that I have some dealings with at
>> present. Any comments or suggestions on the above?
>
> Hello follow Kiwi!

Hello kiwi from the south Island. :)

On Monday, 15 June 2015 at 23:53:06 UTC, Nick B wrote:
> Looking to the future, as volumes grow, they could:
> 1.  Stay with PHP & C#.net, and bring on servers as volumes grow.
> 2.  Migrate to C#.net in time
> 3.  Migrate to D in time.
>
> Any comments or suggestions on the above?

Don't mess up a working solution. Don't mess it up. Go with this logic: will it mess up the existing software? Choose the solution that will not mess it up.

This being said, you start a new project with spare money or spare time. Migrations are 99.9% of the time not worth it.

On Tuesday, 16 June 2015 at 08:47:40 UTC, John Colvin wrote:
> On Monday, 15 June 2015 at 23:53:06 UTC, Nick B wrote:
>> Hi.
>>
>>
>> Any comments or suggestions on the above?
>
> Both C# and D sound like good fits there. It depends on whether it's the sort of team who like to innovate and explore new possibilities or whether they want a completely fleshed out, stable ecosystem.


Is anyone else able to comment on the comparisions/differences between C#.Net & D ??
Any comments on cost ?
Any comments on getting bugs fixed ?

On 17/06/2015 6:41 a.m., Nick B wrote:
> On Tuesday, 16 June 2015 at 06:29:46 UTC, Rikki Cattermole wrote:
>> On 16/06/2015 11:53 a.m., Nick B wrote:
>>> Hi.
>>>
>>> There is a startup in New Zealand that I have some dealings with at
>>> present. Any comments or suggestions on the above?
>>
>> Hello follow Kiwi!
>
> Hello kiwi from the south Island. :)

Oh please say Christchurch!

On Wednesday, 17 June 2015 at 04:51:44 UTC, Rikki Cattermole wrote:
> On 17/06/2015 6:41 a.m., Nick B wrote:
>> On Tuesday, 16 June 2015 at 06:29:46 UTC, Rikki Cattermole

>
> Oh please say Christchurch!

sorry for the confusion. Its Wellington.