A framework is a truly great tool that web developers can use to cut down on the time it takes to create an application, or even an entire website. Frameworks are available for most languages commonly used today, so you won’t have to stray too far from a familiar path.
As the name would suggest, Ruby on Rails, abbreviated as RoR, is a framework for the Ruby programming language. Ruby on Rails made a big hit on the framework scene once the framework showed how easy it was to implement java-script and other technologies into a web design. Unfortunately, RoR has been known to be slow and less scalable.
PHP frameworks are numerous. You could spend time learning quite a few PHP frameworks and end up with something you like. One of the most popular PHP frameworks would be CakePHP, which already has books out in local stores such as Barnes and Noble. Amazon also stocks a large inventory of CakePHP books, so getting started wouldn’t be hard at all. CakePHP is better for PHP fans that want a framework that is similar to something they already have experience with.
Python has its own framework by the name of Django. Django is particularly popular since it was released long before the newer frameworks that are now coming out, and has a long history of phenomenal support. The only thing that would disappoint a web developer is the syntax, which can be more difficult than other frameworks if previous experience with Python is not had.
In your search for a framework, don’t forget that you will want a development platform that can support new technologies, and not just older ones. New technologies would include java-based platforms such as AJAX. It would be a bad thing to invest your time in making the perfect website, only to find that it won’t scale very well with newer technologies as time goes on. Generally every open source and widely supported framework stays up to date.
You don’t have to learn a web development framework all in one day. If you don’t have the time currently, you could get a book or print-out that you could learn with over a specified amount of time. Some frameworks could even only take several days to learn and put into practice, so you can get started sooner than you thought. It’s at least worth a look into, regardless of your situation.
In Conclusion
Web development frameworks can take some time in learning. You should try out a few you think you would like, do a few test applications, and then make an educated decision on which web framework you would like to pursue.