On Thu, 31 Oct 2002, Alex McLintock wrote: > I think I better learn PHP if for no better reason than to prepare for the > mass PHP to perl/java conversions when people realise that PHP is a bad idea.
I learnt enough PHP to install and use a non-core module, and get that, and database access, and cookies to interact. I'm certainly no uberprogrammer, and figured that our php programming lot could modify it and make it 'more PHPish' But no, my ropey first attempt is seemingly as well structured as it gets. I think it needs a big change, like that from perl 4 to 5, to introduce namespaces and better scoping in general. Also, despite my experience, it was claimed that adding in more modules is a pain - I can see that you'd have to recompile, link and then restart the webserver, but that shouldn't be challenging. But what perl modules give is a middle way between compiled-in and include()d files. Possibly what php is most missing is widespread usage for non-cgi stuff, and with it, the programming experience of programmers taught to program, rather than web or internet geeks, taught to do what's necessary to get something working. the hatter
