IBM Goes Gonzo Now for PHP!

From: Google Mike (googlemike_at_hotpop.com)
Date: 02/27/05 

Date: 27 Feb 2005 10:19:28 -0800

This is big news!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1817&e=8&u=/zd/20050225/tc_zd/146644&sid=96120751
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1817&e=9&u=/infoworld/20050225/tc_infoworld/56630&sid=96742458
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1817&e=10&u=/cmp/20050226/tc_cmp/60403410&sid=96120750

Please don't consider this a troll -- my contributions to this
newsgroup should show that I am not. However, I have to speak out
against Java for a few reasons and cite this move from IBM as a big
boost for PHP and a chip away at Java. So, if you're a newbie who is
pondering which language to switch to, I don't recommend Java. Heck,
even Sun's own Scott McNeally once said that they underestimated LAMP
(and my favorite -- LAPP (because of PostgreSQL instead of MySQL)).

I used to be a Java fan before I became a PHP fan. I used to do Java
Server Pages and had also done some standalone Java apps with a GUI. I
was Java crazy. But then I was blinded by my own enthusiasm, blocking
out the sun. I soon realized that the object nazis have infected Java
with a slow, convoluted API. In order to do what would normally be some
simple tasks in Java, you often have to fight with the strict typing.
For instance, I recall time after time of finding the very function I
wanted to get something done, but then found I had to run my string or
other variable data through anywhere from 5 to 6 hard-to-understand,
poorly documented APIs in order to get the right data type ready to
send to my final function I had found to complete the task. So then
they say, "Yeah, but well, that strict typing means you have more
speed," but I don't buy that. It meant more APIs (each with their own
speed hit) and the strict typing didn't give me any more performance
gain than I would have with other comparable languages. And then there
was the Java version thing with almost an uncanny lack of regard for
prior support. And last there was the Java vendor thing where my Java
code won't work on your Java vendor's server software.

Last, I have to speak out against all this object modeling stuff which
is something that happens with .NET and Java dev teams. Programmers
these days often go too far in this direction, delaying project
deadlines in the name of object purity and object worship. Sure, the
opposite side of this -- spaghetti code -- is a bad thing, but like the
ancient Greeks used to say, "Nothing in excess" is the best advice. I
can sit down with some good thought and prior work on PHP, think out a
good long range strategy with only a handful of objects, and knock a
project out in record time. I can even make it so that a workgroup of
programmers can each work on their part of the PHP project without
being hung up in object workshops (which should be called object ritual
ceremonies).

So, newbies -- go PHP, not Java, and you'll see what I mean. It's like
a breath of fresh air.

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