I'm a pretty average web developer, so feel capable of answering.
Most definitely. The majority of popular web software used is still in PHP (Wordpress, Drupal, Mediawiki, Menalto gallery, etc.), and in most instances, it's suitable for developing new websites too.
The majority of websites are sufficiently trivial that speed isn't an issue, and the deficiencies of the PHP language don't become apparent. The documentation is decent and it's easy to write websites in, what's not to like?
Name:
Anonymous2011-10-12 15:23
>>3
I knew it's /jp/ that's been shitting up the board. GO HOME.
Nobody cares about your irrational hate about whatever language you don't like, just go back to that shithole and discuss which touhou you'd like to fuck or whatever the shit you faggots do over there.
+ Namespace pollution
+ Despite calling itself an 'OOP' language, it isn't OOP at all. For example, array(1, 2, 3)[0] does not work. That's what you get for chosing functioncall-style arrays over 'real' array literals.
+ Fucked up regex strings. You actually have to add '//' to the regular expression. That's something the PHP devs copied from Perl, HOWEVER, in perl, '//' is part of the RegEx literals: /(.*)/ is a RegEx literal. Since RegEx literals don't exist in PHP, it seriously boggles the mind why PHP requires them nonetheless.
+ No function references. At all. Consider:
function fc($callback, $text)
{
$callback($text);
}
function printcb($s)
{
print($s);
}
// can't do that! print is not a function, and it will
// throw a syntax error.
//fc(print, "Hello World\n");
// can't do that either! printcb is treated as constant.
//fc(printcb, "Hello World\n");
// ... Good job there, PHP.
fc("printcb", "Hello World\n");
In short, as long as you use PHP only to distribute your collection of childporn with lotsa include("files.html"), where programming logic would usually be, then PHP is just fine.
But for everything else, PHP just plain and simply sucks.
>>5
I knew it's Reddit that's been shitting up the board. GO HOME.
Nobody cares about your irrational love of whatever new scalable Web technology you like, just go back to that shithole and discuss which ``innovative'' platform you'd like to use or whatever the shit you faggots do over there.
Name:
Anonymous2011-10-12 17:39
>>8
You're using faggot quotes and you think you can tell me to leave?
The question should be, is CGI in general better?
The answer: for small sites, it sure is. Not limited to Perl. I've done stuff in Ruby, Lua, and even Python in CGI.
Actually, who am I kidding here? Just about any language is better than PHP. Except for all that shit based on Java, of course.
PHP is a universal object of ridicule by now, like VB. There's no excuse to use it whatsoever unless you're already stuck with a codebase.
The retards who do use it against all reason point to big sites like Facebook as proof that PHP is a scalable and robust language.
Meanwhile the actual Facebook coders, who've wisened up by now, curse every day they have to work with it, all thanks to Suckerberg&Co. mistakenly choosing it as their language of choice back in 2004 when they, let's be frank, couldn't program worth a shit.
They spend massive amounts of time money and effort writing a fucking PHP compiler, which saves them about 50% CPU, which is still really fucking slow.
PHP combines careful design, like C++, with blazing speed, like Ruby, and a clever, educated and security conscious community, like Visual Basic. It says a lot about the language that it improved leaps and bounds when it started ripping of Java.
It's not the nineties any more, you don't have to repeat their mistakes.
Name:
Anonymous2011-10-13 16:02
>>17
As long as you can live with fake-oo, nonthreaded, bloated, insecure code, why not?
Name:
Anonymous2011-10-13 20:40
Web Dev here. My whole life is a fucking joke. I tell people I'm a graphics designer because any educated normal person has a fucking clue that websites even have a backend aside from their design.
Every language or framework you 'can' develop a website in is terrible. They're all bad, unorganized, and slow. But that doesn't matter because anyone asking about PHP is an entry level goon and will never be able to run a website on anything more than fucking godaddy one click install. Eat a dick OP.
Name:
Anonymous2011-10-13 20:43
>>20
Obviously you've never developed in Perl. Why don't you go back to your meaningless life.
>>20 Web Dev here. My whole life is a fucking joke.
Yes. Me too. I'm avoiding this trap by writing desktop apps instead whenever the boss fails to explicitly require a web interface. Good thing multiplatform code is easier to write these days.
>>23
Starting with the fact that there are no benefits that make it worth using (lowering the bar to entry by way of tightly coupling code and data is not a benefit) and moving into the security nightmare, widely variable and incompatible runtime configuration (why is this a language issue? Compiled C is more portable by comparison), and mosh-pit of a standard library, the only people it will appeal to are people who haven't seen another programming language.
>>21
I don't believe >>20-san mentioned Perl. I do believe you have something on your shoulder, in your bonnet, or perhaps up your bum.
Name:
Anonymous2011-10-14 1:26
>>24 I don't believe >>20-san mentioned Perl. I do believe you have something on your shoulder, in your bonnet, or perhaps up your bum.
He said anything that you can develop a website in is terrible.
Name:
Anonymous2011-10-14 1:45
>>24
Tightly coupling code and data is dependant upon how you program, you can't blame PHP for that. Personally I use http://codeigniter.com/ as an MVC framework, it makes programming in PHP much more pleasant.
>>25
My bad. I take it back. I've written C for the web so I think I just glossed over that.
>>26
PHP is designed to be a content-tightly-coupled-Perl for the web. Rather than using a bandaid framework for a head trauma victim's memory of Perl, you could be using any other language and framework.
It runs everywhere -- just about every host out there has it.
4chan uses it.
It's not great to program in, but when the alternatives are not as widely available, who cares?
Name:
Anonymous2011-10-14 5:12
i just got a job doing PHP like an hour ago.
sure, i'd rather be working in happs, but you gotta roll with the industry.
my advice: if there's a php job, just take it, it's what most of the industry uses right now and it's not too bad. if nothing else you'll learn how to work in teams and how to work with all the pressures in an office setting.
in your free time you can do whatever you want, you can bet on some framework and put your time in it but if the industry doesn't move there and you're not going to start your own company... it's pretty much wasted time and energy.
go with a company that has some structure: they use some sort of scm, have a bug tracker and defined procedures for how to go through the process of delivering a product, they do QA, etc... don't go to a hippy place where noone really knows who's doing what... you'll get nothing done and get frustrated.
Name:
Anonymous2011-10-14 7:01
PHP is utter shit, has a very bad culture, and knowing it will find you an ok job in 24 hours no matter where you live.
Python is not so good, has a very nice culture, and no jobs whatsoever.
Ruby is really good, still slow as fuck, has an incredibly shitty culture, and well-paid jobs if you're willing to relocate to SF.
Java is shit, culture is shit, Indians.
Comedy Perl, Clojure, and Node.js options.