Web-based interface with VB.Net?

[JoshGuru7]

I'm thinking about trying a new project mostly for fun and would love a few pointers that might start me off in the right direction.

One of my toys is an Excel model that reads from and writes to an access database using ADO. It also has a few userforms for things like data entry and sensitivity adjustments, but most of the calculations are strictly in excel. I'm toying with putting it online either by building a front-end for it or just trying to do the whole thing in a web-based app of some sort. Having it online would let me access it from anywhere and seems like a fun way to pick up some additional programming knowledge. On the other hand, I do already have a full-time job.

What would you guys recommend? VB.Net seems like the obvious starting point based on the current model, but would it be worth the effort to look at php w/ SQL server? This would be primarily a for-fun project since I currently know very little about any sort of web-based interface development. Are there any good books or resources somebody could point me at?

 

[Crusty]

You already know VBA, so I would just write an ASP.NET application using VB.NET as the code behind the front end.

 

[Ken g6]

I'd go with VB unless you're either (1) trying to learn PHP or (2) worried about paying Microsoft for software licenses. If (2) were the case you wouldn't have mentioned SQL Server.

Since you're new at this, starting with VB.Net is probably the way to go. But if you want to learn PHP, I'd go with PHP and MySQL - open source all the way and you'd broaden your horizons more.

 

[JoshGuru7]

Thanks for the advice, I picked up a couple of books on ASP.Net and i'll start there.

 

[Crusty]

Thanks for the advice, I picked up a couple of books on ASP.Net and i'll start there.

Don't forget you can download the Express versions of Visual Studio and SQL Server for free from Microsoft. If you're a student and have access to a .edu email address you can sign up on http://www.dreamspark.com and download full versions of the software as well.