Pre-Development Questions

[Drner]

Hello!

I am prepping to write my first program (ever! ) after not finding something that suits my needs. And it may seem odd to ask, but I'd like to know the best route in programming language I should use.

My focus is to keep a simple inventory on my computer that I can periodically synch--by plugging in URL/username/password--with online generated data. Is this a simple enough program for a first-timer? (Info from web to desktop).

So here are my questions:

What language would you use to synch data on the desktop from data online? There are auction programs that do this, I understand. Is this the same as an RSS type of browser-tool?

If I had a very basic inventory I'd like to periodically synch, would you write a VB program? Code an Excel sheet? Find an OpenSource project, gut it and customize for your particular needs?

If website-related Sitepoint may be a bit off-target for my needs--and if I can be so bold to ask--would you kindly recommend an equally respected forum that caters to programmers?

My progamming level: I am an intermediate CSS/HTML user with manual assisted PHP/MySQL skills. I plan to research and learn the appropriate languages needed for the project I have in mind.

I thank you kindly for any and all input you may have!

 

[plog]

Yeah, you didn't provide enough details. It was mostly focused on what happens in the middle, not what the 2 endpoints look like. Those end points will drive this. So--

Tell us about where the online data is now. How do/will you consume it? Do you have a direct link to the database it is in? Or will you need to scrape a page?

Tell us about where the data is going once scraped. What will you be doing with it? What's the ultimate end product? Some printable report for management? A spreadsheet you can look at?