Nice points. As for the idea of LAMP (specifically PHP and MySQL being a developer toy) I would agree with that perception. I think the basis of this is that both are free, open-source applications. In a world of pricey software apps, people are still reluctant to give credit to apps that don't cost an arm and a leg. I was talking with a developer/DBA friend of mine who told me that the reason their company nver looked at MySQL was becuase the support agreement didn't cost enough. "If they only charge that much it means that either their product is a short-sighted effort or they have not idea what they are getting themselves into. Either way, we want no part of that." So if MySQL would have charges more, they may have been looked at as an enterprise level app.scottayy wrote:It's also come to my attention that people think PHP (mysql too) is a toy for web developers. I don't know why people have came to this assumption. Perhaps because it's so popular and (relatively) easy to learn? The bottom line is it's a very powerful and capable language.
PHP is certainly moving along as an enterprise grade application, with Zend having recently begun key partnerships with Oracle and other well known large companies. In fact, Oracle has now dedicated entire areas of their monthly magazine and parts of their website for PHP development and deployment with PHP. Sun is even giving PHP props as it looks to develop software that takes advantage of both PHP and Java. BUt a lot of folks just don't give it credit.
As far as PHP as a programming language... one of the things that saved me at first was that I could write extremely dirty, inefficient code and still get away with it. But as I started moving into more advanced stages of development, the crap wouldn't cut it anymore and I had to get better at core development practises. That is something that I love about PHP. It is scalable to the enterprise AND the developer. It is flexible, forgiving and understandable, which for me, as a new developer, were probably the most vital aspects of the language.