[K12OSN] Frameworks for Web based Student Information Systems

[Calvin Dodge]

On 1/16/07, Robert Arkiletian <robark at gmail.com> wrote:
> Not sure how many developers are on this list but here goes.
>
> What types of frameworks would be best suited for developing a full
> featured large scale (district level) Student Information System?
>
> Django (Python)

As a Python devotee, I'd suggest Django. It has Guido's seal of
approval, and has been shown to handle heavy traffic (chicagocrime.org
has coped with slashdotting more than once), unlike Turbogears. The
scuttlebutt is that Turbogears has better Ajax support, but can't
handle a heavy network load (due to non-threading, IIRC).

But I don't know if Django has the features required for such an
application.  You might peruse the website and manual to get some feel
for Django's capabilities.  Caveat: the manual pages use some sort of
fancy Javascript system for adding footnotes to the pages, and that
Javascript can take _minutes_ to finish initializing each page.

> I'm assuming the database backend would be PostgreSQL, MySQL or Oracle.

I'd choose PostgreSQL, FWIW.

> The real question is if one (or more) district(s) was to hire a team
> of developers to write a GPLed SIS, how long would this take and cost?

That's a very good question.  I wish I had an answer. ;^)

Calvin