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Comment by wtracy | Hacker News Reader

> what's the argument for using it instead of another mature dynamic language like Ruby or Python?

A massive body of existing code that you can leverage.

I keep putting off picking up PHP, but when you look at the number of off-the-shelf easily-extensible solutions for CMSs, CRMs, and e-commerce platforms, there's no contest. PHP wins.

If anyone can point me at a Python e-commerce solution that will let you deliver an MVP in an afternoon, and your first original feature within a week, that would make my month.

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It's not exactly a language choice at that point. That's like saying C++ is a good language because Excel exists.

It's an argument for a particular tech stack that may have PHP in it. Excel is a bad example because it's closed-source and does not put a developer building a solution on top of it on equal footing with its creators. Wordpress is probably the best example here; if it does 90% of what someone wants, it may be easier to add that 10% than to use a different solution.

I'd be surprised, however if there aren't solutions written in other languages that provide that same 90% in most cases. None of them are as famous, but that shouldn't hinder someone working as a consultant to help small businesses get online.

Excel enables even less technical people than Wordpress configurers. It provides 99.999999% of the solution, and the rest can be done with macros, pivot tables, etc. That's why it's a good example, I'd say.

Extending Excel is a reason to use VBA, not the C/C++/C# most of Excel itself is written in. Extending Wordpress is a reason to use PHP.

In both cases, the merits of the extension language are almost irrelevant; people use them because they're the extension language for a popular platform.

I'm not sure the number of those should be a consideration, as you probably only need one or two of each. The quality or fitness for a particular purpose does matter, and I'll confess to not being up-to-date enough about that kind of software to make a good case for any particular package. They certainly exist for Python, and I can recall using Satchmo and Django CMS some time ago. Those satisfied the MVP in an afternoon criterion for a developer already familiar with them.

Ok, how about the number that are actually production ready?

Django CMS looks nice from what I've seen, I'll give you that.

I hadn't encountered satchmo before. Their website seems to be down now, which is not encouraging.

> Those satisfied the MVP in an afternoon criterion for a developer already familiar with them.

Which is completely missing the point. I got WordPress up in under an hour on my first attempt. How many Python solutions can claim that kind of learning curve?

Not sure whats wrong with https://saleor.io/ or http://oscarcommerce.com/ or any number of other options from https://djangopackages.org/grids/g/ecommerce/

I hadn't encountered saleor.io, thanks.

Oscar, from what I've seen, is very difficult to get started with. The code and documentation are rather hostile to newcomers. I was left with the impression that the documentation is designed to funnel you into associated consulting services, rather than help you get started on your own. I would love to be wrong about that.

None if the other e-commerce solutions on Django packages seem to have a sizeable developer community around them. I would be hesitant to use them for anything business critical, unless I had the resources to maintain everything in house.

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