Had an original idea for a start-up...but
jacquesm: PHP is pretty easy to get in to, I asked about js frameworks here a while ago and pretty much unanimously got jquery back so that's what I'm using myself now and so far it has been very easy to use and does what I want it to.Build a small website or two using PHP and js before you go for your major idea, that will probably save you a rewrite later on. PHP is a strange platform to develop for, the language has its shortcomings which makes it very easy to make a mess of things but with some discipline and a good plan on how you intend to separate your business logic from your presentation layer you should come out well.Have a look at templating as well, no point in reinventing the wheel there, at least not until high performance becomes a real issue (using a templating engine adds some overhead).good luck !And about keeping the idea secret: Before you execute do some really good searching around to see if it isn't already out there, also not sharing your idea with other - not neccesarily the HN crowd but in general - is an excellent way to get into 'island mode'. Get early feedback that way you can tweak your idea while it is still just pencil sketches. Later on that gets a lot more expensive.