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POLanguages Offering Scalability for Server-client Application
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copied!<p>I want to learn how to get started with developing highly scalable server/client applications--more specifically for non-web-based/not-in-a-browser desktop clients. I figure that developing a very minimalistic chat application (roughly comparable to AIM/Skype) is a reasonable way to get started down such a path of learning about servers/clients and scalability.</p> <p>I am unsure which programming language would be appropriate for this task considering my emphasis on scalability. Personally, the only languages I am interested in working with are Java, C#, and C/C++. As far as the server OS goes, I will be dealing with Linux, so C# in my case would imply Mono.</p> <p>I suppose my specific interest boils down to what language to use on the server, since it is the infrastructure supporting the application which has to be highly scalable. I have heard mixed reviews of Java and C# server scalability. My intuition would suggest that they are both perfectly reasonable choices, but then I hear about others running into problems once they reach a certain threshold of application/user traffic. It is hard to know what to make of hearsay, but I do suppose that the lack of bare-metal support of these languages could hinder scalability at certain thresholds. When I hear about C/C++, I hear mention of the great Boost libraries (ex. such as <code>Boost.Asio</code>) offering the ultimate scalability. But then I am scared off when I hear that sockets in particular are much more complex to deal with in C/C++ than with other languages like Java/C#.</p> <p>What is an effective way to get started in making highly scalable server-client applications such as a chat client? Of the ones which I have mentioned, which programming language is adequately suited for developing such applications? What other languages should I consider for such an application?</p> <p>EDIT: the term "scale" most directly relates to scaling to serve a large number of users (perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands, maybe millions).</p>

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