<sigh>
I really want to believe that "enterprise" systems are better than
simple ones. I really want to believe that tools like Eclipse improve
productivity. And I really want to believe that Zend/PHP is doing
something new by "integrating" with other languages on "enterprise"
platforms.
But let's step back a minute.
First, Java is not and has never been an ultimate solution to anything.
It is not a standard against which serious application development
should be measured. It requires huge system resources, encourages bloat
in system design, and isolates developers from the realities of life by
creating object-oriented cocoons for them.
Anyone who has attempted to do serious web development on Geronimo will
know exactly what I'm talking about.
Managers are a funny breed. They don't like risk. So they like Java.
It's not a bad solution to anything, a lot of people know how to code
it, and it has people like Sun, Oracle, and IBM behind it. It's a safe
choice. Zend is not stupid - they're trying to position PHP for the
"enterprise" market, not because of any technical merits (that aren't
shared by Perl, Ruby, and Python) but because by being a "safe"
alternative they will get more customers.
Perl is seen as unsafe and marginal, partly because the design of the
language really does assume that developers possess intelligence
somewhat beyond the Neanderthal level. That scares the shit out of
managers.
What's nice about PHP is that it's so ubiquitous - just about any mom
and pop hosting provider supports it. So if you need a quick and dirty
dynamic site solution, PHP is your friend.
But "enterprise" solutions are the exact opposite. You need huge
resources, a huge development team, "architects" to tie the whole thing
together, and incredibly long lead times to do the simplest things.
It's up to you - you can create cool software or you can join the
walking dead.
Did I just talk myself into quitting my day job - I hope not!
d
John ORourke wrote:
Hi folks,
My simple CMS has become a bit of a behemoth, and I want to complete
its transformation into Optimus Prime by allowing my developers to
write plug-in modules in PHP, Java etc.
I read this:
http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2007/10/12/java_application_server_zend/
(summary: php and java getting it on) and wondered if the mod_perl
community should be doing something similar - some form of link from
mod_perl to mod_php, so that something like the following would be
possible:
sub type_handler {
....
$r->pnotes("php-handler", Apache2::PHP->new($r) ); # fictional
module!
}
sub response_handler {
...
$php=$r->pnotes("php-handler");
$some_php_code = .....
$php->run( $some_php_code );
...
}
Back to the beer, looking forward to flames, redirects, and ideas!
John
