in reply to zdog judges perl vs. php

Assuming you have no troubles with either install, PHP drops in and starts working a whole lot easier than mod_perl + a content package. If you have troubles with both, PHP is mega easier to deal with.

Honestly, that is the only thing Perl is slower at, in my real world experience. I've used both, I've installed both multiple times, I keep winding up in mod_perl. I've found that PHP, ColdFusion, and similar systems all make easy things real easy, categories of hard things ok, and everything else fricking impossible. Perl makes easy things ok and everything else possible.

A quick perusal of both would lead you to believe that PHP is quicker, but in the end, what will make all the difference is how quick you can do the hard stuff, computers today can flood T3s with dynamic content, but developer time is worth thousands of PCs...

--
$you = new YOU;
honk() if $you->love(perl)

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RE: RE: zdog judges perl vs. php
by Malach (Scribe) on Oct 16, 2000 at 02:24 UTC

    One point, which no-one seems to mention (or, perhaps think worth mentioning).... development time.

    I find that I can code simlar web applications more efficiently (in terms of *my* time) in php than I can in perl. I learned perl and php together, and, in terms of numbers of lines of code, (in my local archve of "completed" work) have done about 50% more perl... so that's not simply because I've worked in php more.

    PHP is limited, but I don't think that this is always a bad thing.

    For myself, if it's displaying on the web, and is quite simple, I use php. If it's not suitable for the combination of my skills, and php, then I'll figure out how to do it in perl. So far, this combination works well...... for me.

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RE: RE: zdog judges perl vs. php
by merlyn (Sage) on Oct 16, 2000 at 02:07 UTC
    Which is why my cute phrase is "PHP is training wheels without the bicycle". It's seductive, but tops out faster than any serious developer would be happy with. Fine for the casual web-interaction hacker, but if you program more than an hour a day, you'll be frustrated.

    -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

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      Correction: if you insist on using it exclusively, you will probably run up against its limitations fairly quickly.

      Personally, I like the TMTOWTDI aspect of perl.... I extend that to using other languages where I'm more comfortable doing so.

      So far, I'm not frustrated with php, and I generally code for far more than one hour a day. But, then again, I have perl.... who could be frustrated with perl? :)

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