Is there a way to tell the programming language of a web app?

Question

This is probably a bit of a silly question, but I was wondering if there is a good way to tell the underlying programming language of a website from the delivered html? i.e determine if it is asp.net, php, python or java etc.

I understand that an easy way to deduce this is to look at the response header and see what server it's on, but what if it's using a a service like cloudflare with nginx, i.e. a reverse proxy that essentially masks the server type.

Also, with asp.net I know there are some giveaways like the aspx extension, but what if these are hidden? also, are there any dead giveaways for other languages?

Basically, my question comes down to is it possible for me to completely mask what language is used in a website?

You could also open WireShark or something similar and see what calls the webpage makes and which files it gets and posts to — heinst, Jul 23 '15 at 12:25

user3359139 · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-23T12:43:48.693

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Please take a look at the following website: http://builtwith.com/. You can find out a website is Built with what technology.

edited Jul 23 '15 at 12:43

answered Jul 23 '15 at 12:33

user3359139

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not much info from that service regarding www.stackoverflow.com ... – Andrei Rînea Jul 23 '15 at 13:06
I just checked a few sites that I know were built with Django. Nope. – NightShadeQueen Jul 23 '15 at 14:18

Is there a way to tell the programming language of a web app?

1 Answers1