Why PHP (is Awesome|Blows)
Sep 4

Why PHP (is Awesome|Blows)

Why I switched from PHP to Python : Here’s the best description I’ve heard yet for why PHP is the way it is (emphasis mine).

What makes PHP, as a language, awesome is also what makes it horrible to work with, which is that it’s not really a language, but rather a giant plugin architecture for exposing lower level libraries in a high level fashion. Most of the language that developers use are, in fact, thin wrappers around popular C functions (curl, mysql, gd, etc.). Most of the time these libraries’ functions are simply exposed as-is. Anyone who’s coded curl in C will feel right at home while using curl from PHP. The problem with this is it leads to wildly inconsistent API’s.

The whole article is a great comparison of Python and PHP.  Worth reading.

by Deane   September 4, 2009 4:41 PM   |

Comments

by Mark,   September 4, 2009 11:04 PM  

He was doing good until he said this: "Finally, a stark difference between PHP and Python is that Guido, essentially, treats the developers as adults while PHP puts significant effort into protecting developers from themselves (I’m looking at you safe_mode)."

If you have ever programmed in Ada you'll know that hand holding is to the extreme yet DOD companies have no problem using it. Not to mention every academic and real world programmer will tell you it's a real language. It's a language of pain but still a real one. Personally, I can't believe the sheer volume of time and effort spent on which language is better. Like arguing about Linux, BSD, MS, Apple etc etc.

Use what works best for you and your needs. Period.

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