Page 1 of 2

was php the right choice?

Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 6:15 am
by Destiny
Okay, here's my problem...
I am a computer science student and recently got a job to develop a web application (a very specific webshop and admin system to be exactly).
Most of my experience is php. I have done some jsp and c# on university, but must say that somehow I didn't really get to like it.
I decided to develop in php since time also is a factor and I'm afraid it could take quite a bit longer if I'd developt in another language.

Now I know that PHP probably isn't the most suitable language for large web applications, so I'm asking myself whether I made a wrong choice. Most fellow students that I tell that I prefer php give me a strange look. Some say I should really use dotnet technologies, others say jsp is awesome...but php certainly wouldn't be a good choice.

Now am I going the wrong way? Is there basically anything that could go terribly wrong that I might overlook which would be better with other languages?
Any advice is appreciated, I'm almost having sleepless nights :P

Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 7:28 am
by feyd
PHP is perfectly fine for a "webshop and admin area." It's a cross platform system (.Net losing traction,) and its far easier to find hosting for and generally cheaper to get hosted (both Java/JSP and .Net lose ground here.)

Re: was php the right choice?

Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 8:26 am
by timvw
Destiny wrote: Now I know that PHP probably isn't the most suitable language for large web applications
How did you come to this 'knowledge'? Any particular experiences that made you come to this conclusion?
Destiny wrote: So I'm asking myself whether I made a wrong choice. Most fellow students that I tell that I prefer php give me a strange look. Some say I should really use dotnet technologies, others say jsp is awesome...but php certainly wouldn't be a good choice.
Apart from making blunt statements, did they also give reasons why PHP would not be suitable for the job?
And did they motivate why language X would be a better solution for those reasons?

In my experience PHP is usually an excellent choice for webprojects...

Re: was php the right choice?

Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 7:15 pm
by alvinphp
Destiny wrote:Most fellow students that I tell that I prefer php give me a strange look. Some say I should really use dotnet technologies, others say jsp is awesome...but php certainly wouldn't be a good choice.
I have experienced the same thing, as many dismiss PHP as a scripting web language where both .NET and Java can do much more (like desktop applications). In saying this you did not make a mistake as PHP is great to have under your belt as you find it everywhere and it is the most popular language on the world wide web. I do recommend you learn both Java and .NET though as they also both good to know and there is no reason to limit yourself to one language.

Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 9:25 pm
by MrPotatoes
*bleh* java.

those are always the worst applications.

i have the pleasure of working with Seibel and that bitch is the slowest and ugliest and most terriblest thing ever.

i'm trying to completely re-write something that they currently have for more efficency which i'm starting 2moro (OpenGL)

.NET and PHP. i personally prefer C++ but i won't cry about using C# for business apps

Re: was php the right choice?

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:06 am
by timvw
alvinphp wrote:
Destiny wrote:Most fellow students that I tell that I prefer php give me a strange look. Some say I should really use dotnet technologies, others say jsp is awesome...but php certainly wouldn't be a good choice.
I have experienced the same thing, as many dismiss PHP as a scripting web language where both .NET and Java can do much more (like desktop applications).
Who cares if language X can do your laundray, iron your shirts, ... when you're going to build a web-application ;)

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:27 am
by Maugrim_The_Reaper
timvw says it all really. PHP is a good choice for most web applications. Java can also be suitable (depending on the job) but I fear it garners more attention because who doesn't teach it as an OOP language in Universities...;). PHP is a largely simple, straight forward, elegant language to work with. It's a no brainer learning it if you already have Java under your belt...

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:30 am
by onion2k
Maugrim_The_Reaper wrote:PHP is a largely simple, straight forward, elegant language to work with.
I'm a huge fan of PHP, it's definitely simple and very straight forward .. but calling it 'elegant' is just silly.

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:52 am
by Maugrim_The_Reaper
Misspeak and thou shalt be slapped down from unhigh...:)

My elegant is more on the simplicity factor... I'm going to run off now and sulk in a corner ;).

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:58 am
by AshrakTheWhite
now class repeat after me: "PHP is your friend"



:)


iv seen large project developed in Java and guess what, most of the developers are screaming in agony when you want to change something in pihp you flick your wrist and your done adding anything to a web app



imo PHP is best web scripting language ever

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 10:28 am
by onion2k
AshrakTheWhite wrote:iv seen large project developed in Java and guess what, most of the developers are screaming in agony when you want to change something in pihp you flick your wrist and your done adding anything to a web app
That has a lot more to do with the planning and design of the application than it does with the language it was written in. You could write an application that is horrible to extend using PHP (many have..), likewise you could write an easily extended Java app.

The specifics of the language at hand contribute about 5% to the actual code. The logic of the application is about 45%. The other 50% is the planning that went in to the design in the first place. I genuinely believe that if you were to fully spec out, design, and plan a complete application and then give the documentation to a competent PHP team, a competent Perl team, a competent Java team, and a competent ASP team you would end up with 4 great web applications. The language makes very little difference.

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:09 am
by AshrakTheWhite
oh and if anyone whines that PHP is slow then Duh its a interpreted language while java is compiled


but PHP functions are faster than java cuz they run in c++ afaik

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:34 am
by daedalus__
I thought they were in C

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:37 pm
by onion2k
AshrakTheWhite wrote:oh and if anyone whines that PHP is slow then Duh its a interpreted language while java is compiled
but PHP functions are faster than java cuz they run in c++ afaik
100% of the slow applications I see these days are due to the way the developer wrote them, not the language it was written in. The argument that Java is slow is horribly out of date.

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:25 pm
by MrPotatoes
java might be compiled and PHP Interpreted but there is still the JVM. thereofer there is another unessessary layer of abstraction. besides, i have yet to use a Java program that doesn't lag or isn't slow.

yeah, they can be quick if they didn't do 7million joins and didn't bloat thier code. doesn't mean that java is actually fast. omg, no. also, i've used java for a few years before i quit it but then again, hearing that from some dude on the internet has no real weight to it does it? lol