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Douglas Roberts on 01/22/2008 05:37 AM:
> The appropriate choice of OO language for implementing your ABM will depend
> on what use you intend for the application.
It literally amazes me... yes, I know that phrase is a bit of a
platitude; but it really does catch me off-guard ... that people don't
know this fact... or sporadically forget it.
Everything you do fundamentally depends on why you're doing it. It's so
simple, it's cliche'.
But there are so many reasons to forget it. For example, some people
become familiar with one tool and, from that point forward, use only
that tool regardless of their purpose. Some people believe they can't
successfully use a tool they don't understand intimately; so they throw
up a psychological barricade. Some people invest so much of their time,
energy, reputation, and money in some domain or tool that conservatism
kills them in the end. Still others just bite off more than they can
chew by (unjustifiably) believing that they can "get by" with whatever
crap lies at hand and refusing to admit that they need to do serious
infrastructure work to achieve their objectives. Some go to
extraordinary lengths to coerce a tool into something it's not. ("My
hammer is the best screwdriver on the planet!" ;-) And some just get
too comfortable living off the returns on past investment that they fade
away.
Hence, my answer to Alfredo's question differs a bit from the others.
There's only one way to know how well you will do at developing ABM
models with PHP. Do it! If you don't do it (yourself), then you'll
never know... you'll be at the mercy and whim of "experts"... who, for
the most part, don't know any better than you do.
And if you admit up front that you don't care enough, don't have the
time, don't have the money, don't have the energy, hate to "fail", etc.
to actually _waste_ your time trying to do the work yourself, then you
already have the answer. If you're thinking that way, then most
everyone else is thinking that way, too.
- --
glen e. p. ropella, 971-219-3846, http://tempusdictum.com
The state is the great fictitious entity by which everyone seeks to live
at the expense of everyone else. -- Frédéric Bastiat
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