How do I know what scripting language is used at a site on the back end?

Question

Most of the times pages are named like index.php or page.aspx and you know what language was used.

But what about something like this page :

http://www.ruby-forum.com/forum/ruby

Is there anyway to find out which server side scripting language are they using?

Answer 1

The backend language of a web-site is information which usually should not be available to the client. That many languages reveal themselves via their file extension is a lucky coincidence for you. So I think, the answer is: No, in general that is not possible. Although you might be able to think of a set of heuristics (e.g., in your example above, you could "guess" ruby).

Answer 2

Server-side languages generate html. By looking at the html you will not learn what language has been used. Sometimes you find information in the head section of an html page. Sometimes you can tell from a certain path structure used in urls.

Answer 3

In a lot of cases you, can satisfy this curiousity from the frontend with the help of firefox extention integrated into your browser. With the click of a button you can see an ample amout of information about the website you are on and this includes the scripting language used. Wappalyzer is a browser extension that identifies software on websites