Page 1-1/2 — Mac-based Web Development Issues and Choosing Your Mac OS X Operating System

One of the common misconceptions surrounding the development of Web applications with UltraDev is that it is an all-things-to-all-platforms tool. While this is true to a point, working with it on a Macintosh is a little bit different than working with it on Windows. I brought out these points in a couple of articles in the UltraDev newsgroups, and some folks thought it would be a good idea to add them to this web site. I agree! So here we have page 1-1/2.

Point #1: Develop ASP on Windows Servers (facts and a little bit of opinion mixed in)

One of the most popular applications servers today is Active Server Pages (ASP), a Microsoft technology. Generally speaking, these applications were designed to work on Windows Servers, to be developed with Windows-based tools on Windows computers, and retreive data from Microsoft databases running on Windows (who'da thought?). But this presents a unique problem for the Mac developer: ASP generally doesn't run on the Mac, and Microsoft databases don't work on the Mac, either.

So, the bottom line is, if you need to develop ASP using UltraDev on your Mac, have a Windows server handy. It's cheaper from a development standpoint. There is an add-on ASP Server for Mac OS X (a Unix-based operating system), but it's kinda pricey (US$1000; but it's no more expensive that purchasing ColdFusion Server or WebSphere if you think about it). And you're still never going to get that Access or FoxPro database to run on your Mac. So unless you've got a really, really, really good reason (like your IT manager won't let you run IIS any more because it's got more holes than a swiss cheese factory here in the great state of Wisconsin), then it is my opinion that you should stick with Windows servers when developing ASP applications. That, of course, doesn't mean that you shouldn't develop those applications using UltraDev on your Mac! It works great!

But if you would like to serve up ASP applications from your Mac OS X computer, check out http://www.apple.com/macosx/server/solutions.html or http://www.halcyonsoft.com for more information.

Point #2: Let Mac OS X do what it does best

Mac OS X is a Unix-based operating system, quite the change from its previous versions. Since it is based on Free-BSD Unix, it enjoys a lot of applications that are available for Free-BSD Unix, such as Apache, PHP, Tomcat JSP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc. As such, since these are native applications, they are optimized for use with Mac OS X.

Mac OS X comes in two flavors: Mac OS X (client) and Mac OS X Server. The two operating systems are nearly identical under the hood, not unlike Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional. However, the feature set is the largest difference.

Mac OS X (client), for Web development purposes, comes with the Apache web server and a "streamlined" PHP installation (which is disabled by default). There are a wide variety of additional applications that can be installed for web development and serving, a few of which are discussed in this web site. Among these include a more full-featured version of PHP, the MySQL and PostrgreSQL databases, and others. Since this platform was never designed to be a "server" per se, the user is tasked with making many manual adjustments to the web application software that has been installed, many of which are performed in text-based configuration files. There are, however, graphical administration tools and more enhanced versions of some of the web serving applications available from organizations such as OpenOSX.com and from Marc Liyanage.

Mac OS X Server, on the other hand, is indeed designed to be a server out of the box. For the web developer it contains Apache, PHP, Tomcat JSP, Perl, and Apple's WebObject 5 application server, as well as the MySQL and OpenBase (trial) databases. OpenBase is similar to Microsoft SQL Server in features and function. In addition to the Web applications, there is also a mail server; a DNS server; an FTP server; a WebDAV server; SMB, NFS, and AFS file servers; SMB, LPD, and Apple print servers; QuickTime Streaming Server; a directory server; network authentication services; a proxy server; and firewall services. Needless to say it is a more full-featured operating system. It also has a series of graphical administration tools built into the operating system that makes administering the server easy without having to modify configuration files and such (as much). Take a look at the Mac OS X Server Administrator's Guide at http://download.info.apple.com/Mac_OS_X/062-8441.20010917/us/Admin_Guide.pdf and read the section on Web services. The tools are simply laid out and should make administering the web server a breeze.

Pricing is also a big difference between the two. Mac OS X (client) has been selling in the United States at about US$100-130. Mac OS X Server is a little bit more expensive, but is very economical when compared to a Windows 2000 or Solaris server. It prices out at about US$500 for a 5-client license (which doesn't apply to Web servers as far as I can tell), and about US$1000 for an unlimited client license, and that contains the database! Try that licensing model with Microsoft or Sun and see what you get!

Making a Long Story Longer...

So the long and the short of it is, if you want to use Mac OS X to serve your web pages, why not leverage the technology that's already there! There are plenty of great options available to you now, and the Mac is now on firm ground for serving up the Web. Take advantage of it!

Let's install PHP!