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Why PHP?

7 pointspyurkin13 comments

Why not?

PHP actually has quite a few features I like compared to other dynamic languages, although maybe that's a kind of Stockholm Syndrome. Typehints alone make PHP preferable to python and ruby for me. Only quirk is to remember to always use ===.

One thing I love about PHP: if a function/method parameter is typehinted to a class then I cannot pass null into that parameter unless explicitly allowed to. Much better than C#/Java.

In PHP 7 with return types and primitive typehints programming PHP will actually be quite pleasant.

Every experienced PHP developer knows that most of the inconsistencies and quirks are only worthy of trivia lists and barely ever create real bugs.

It's a language built from the ground up for building websites.

We could probably do with another one of those though, as it's clearly showing it's age (even if you follow all the modern best practices) and modern web development practice has moved on. Though more likely, it'll be replaced on the server with Javascript which has many of the same kind of weird corners and sharp edges (again, even if you follow all the modern best practices), though maybe those will get shaved off by libraries and frameworks.

- is syntactically similar to C, which makes it easy to lean

- it's so mature that almost every problem you may have, has been addressed before

- it's so mature, there's probably a library or plugin for what you want to do

- almost every web dev can code PHP (easy to find talent)

- Facebook was initially coded in PHP, so it's probably a great option for RAD: start a project, validate your idea, etc.

- there are better options today, but I don't think PHP is ever going to stop being an option

Why?

http://laravel.com (Great Framework)

http://laravel.com/docs/5.0/homestead (Quick setup of a local development environment matching production)

https://forge.laravel.com/servers (5 minute setup on Digital Ocean)

https://envoyer.io/ (Zero downtime deployments)

http://lumen.laravel.com/ (fast micro framework)

https://laracasts.com/ (great webcasts)

http://eev.ee/blog/2012/04/09/php-a-fractal-of-bad-design/

"Virtually every feature in PHP is broken somehow. The language, the framework, the ecosystem, are all just bad. And I can’t even point out any single damning thing, because the damage is so systemic. Every time I try to compile a list of PHP gripes, I get stuck in this depth-first search discovering more and more appalling trivia."

Virtually every line in the parent post is broken somehow. The language, the link, the quote, are all just bad. And I can’t even point out any single damning thing, because the damage is so systemic. Every time I try to compile a list of gripes about the post, I get stuck in this depth-first search discovering more and more appalling trivia.

PHP makes writing and supporting webapps easy. More than that, it is easy to train and hire for roles, deploying and setting up servers is simple. And it can be more efficient than ruby and python, although that depends on the skill of the developers

Advanced data analysis, machine learning, networking software, mobile/embedded are good things to implement in a different language.

Because for a simple web presence companies here like that they only have to pay $10 a year for hosting their lightly themed wordpress install.

I know it well. I know it's gotchas. I know it's weaknesses. I'm comfortable with it.

Also, most of what I write is CRUD, and I'm more interested in frontend innovations than backend.

It's really easy to hire PHP developers.

Why? That's a super-enlightening question if answered honestly & in depth.

easy deployment

Why?

1. Laravel

2. HHVM

3. Huge Community

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