[denting5]

Why are PHP and ASP.NET under the programming forum? They are used chiefly for web development, so shouldn't they be under, you know, Web Development?

[modi123_1]

They are main branch languages if you notice the 'web development' is more or less a hodgepodge of ancillary topics to web development.

[denting5]

True. But if web development is already a hodgepodge, then adding ASP and PHP to it couldn't possibly do any harm.

[modi123_1]

Main branch language questions are best under 'programming help'. Their traffic and movement reinforces this... putting them under the bucket of web-dev does not provide any benefit.

[Dogstopper]

I think the distinction comes with the fact that ASP.NET and PHP are full blown languages that don't necessarily HAVE to run on the web. By the same token though, Javascript is in the same boat. I understand what you are saying, and I agree to an extent. But in many cases, Web Development people do front end work, whereas CS guys do backend stuff with PHP/Databases/etc. While not ALWAYS true, that's where the distinction lies.

[jon.kiparsky]

Has anyone, in the history of the site, had any difficulty finding PHP or ASP.NET or javascript?

I doubt it. Not an issue.

[Atli]

A lot of people seem to have that difficulty, yes. It's not uncommon to find PHP, ASP.NET and Javascript questions posted into the main "Web Development" forum rather than in their respective forums. Of course it's possible they are just to lazy to look beyond that generic forum.

Having PHP and ASP.NET in Web Development wouldn't be ideal though. I see the Web Development section as a client-side thing, for the technologies used to actually develop the web content itself, not for the programming languages used to manage and deliver it to the browsers.