Hi Patrick -- > I gotta have something to counter PHP people with too ;)
Dave is right: "CPAN" is a very compelling argument. OTOH, it you've already cast your lot with using a "server page system" (a la Mason, ASP, JSP, ColdFusion), PHP is a pretty compelling choice. It's new, sexy, lightweight, more or less capable, and has lots of buzz. However: Another compelling argument in favor of Perl (against PHP) is an argument in favor of using an controller-based system instead of a server page system. A controller-based system (such as CGI::Application or mod_perl handlers) combined with a true templating system, such as TT or HTML::Template, makes the templates subservient to the application logic. This is the opposite of server page systems which put the template in change of choosing functionality. In the latter, an HTTP request goes to a template which controls execution. If the template in this system decides that a different template should be displayed, chaos erupts -- redirect city, snarls of spaghetti code. In a controller-based system, the HTTP request goes to a controller which runs the logic and then chooses a template. This is a more rational chain of events, allowing the form to *follow* function -- literally. The controller can naturally choose which template without having to twist itself in a pretzel to do so. Add to that the fact that in spite of the claim that it is possible to separate code from HTML in a server page system, in reality it is too difficult and nobody does it. OTOH, if you can't fight the PHP wave, here's an alternative: Offer to "prototype" the system in Perl, and migrate it to PHP! It so happens that a fellow named Tomas Styblo ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote a version of HTML::Template for PHP: http://htmltmpl.sourceforge.net/ This means that you could quickly, and cheaply get a system up and running with Perl and HTML::Template, and migrate it eventually to PHP. (If the "prototype" happens to be so good that it takes the wind out of the sails of migration, so be it.) TTYL, -Jesse- -- Jesse Erlbaum The Erlbaum Group [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: 212-684-6161 Fax: 212-684-6226
