I'm sure Sara will want to weigh in here, but I guess the key distinction you're making is web vs desktop application.
Java is equally suitable (and in common use) for both kinds of development. So too for Python. PHP is largely confined to web apps. Indeed, Java is more likely to be found in web development now.
So, are you actually interested in the question: why is SeqPlot (or VStar or Zapper, ...) not a web application?
I think that the main reason for choosing Java is that it is a language I knew a bit of (I don't know PHP at all) and since I had some fresh experience using the JFreechart plotting library from my work on Zapper, when Arne asked me to write SeqPlot, it was relatively easy for me to do. Also, since the code behind it was largely a conversion of Arne's Fortran code and the tool was never intended to be used by anyone but the Sequence Team, we didn't see a need for it to be a web application.
Hi Michael
I'm sure Sara will want to weigh in here, but I guess the key distinction you're making is web vs desktop application.
Java is equally suitable (and in common use) for both kinds of development. So too for Python. PHP is largely confined to web apps. Indeed, Java is more likely to be found in web development now.
So, are you actually interested in the question: why is SeqPlot (or VStar or Zapper, ...) not a web application?
David
Hi Mike,
I think that the main reason for choosing Java is that it is a language I knew a bit of (I don't know PHP at all) and since I had some fresh experience using the JFreechart plotting library from my work on Zapper, when Arne asked me to write SeqPlot, it was relatively easy for me to do. Also, since the code behind it was largely a conversion of Arne's Fortran code and the tool was never intended to be used by anyone but the Sequence Team, we didn't see a need for it to be a web application.
-Sara