Inexperienced users may see easier ways to do something with perl, but chances are, you can still do these things (related to web applications) with php. Note: Perl has tools to cover every aspect of your entire computing experience, it can make desktop applications, utilities, can do file management, etc. This results in a steep learning curve. Another benefit for php, is that it is SIMPLE, and simple doesn't always mean limited. It means simple. It results in a language that I, a relative beginner to php (only been using it for a year and a half now) can make an entire web site, login system, custom session handlers, full database support (mysql, yeah!) basic file management, user uploading, automatic payment system (paypal, yeah!), automatic xml/rss feed generation, mass emailing system (spam, yeah! lol), HAND-BUILT message boards, etc.
How many scripts do you see for the front/back end of a website that involve perl? I don't see very many, on the other hand, php has many freely available scripts that do everything that I have just said could be done in less than 5 hours. Note: I am NOT recommending php because of the amount of free scripts that are out there, this is an example of its popularity. As stated by a popular wiki,
<en.wikipedia.org>--------------------------------
One major part of PHP which has helped it become popular is that it is a very loose language; in particular, it is dynamically typed. That is, the rules are not as strict with variables—they do not have to be declared and they can hold any type of object. Arrays are heterogeneous, meaning a single array can contain objects of more than one type.
According to Netcraft's April 2002 survey, PHP is now the most deployed server-side scripting language, running on around 9 million of the 37 million domains in their survey. This is confirmed by PHP's own figures, which show PHP usage (measured on a per-domain basis) growing at around 5% per month. In May 2003, almost 13 million domains were using PHP, based on the same source.[1]
Due to PHP's popularity in the web space, a new breed of programmers
emerged who are familiar only with PHP. This encouraged the development
of a command line interface for PHP, as well as GUI libraries such as GTK+ and text mode libraries like
Ncurses
and Newt. This was a major step for PHP, because it helped move it from
being a language used only for CGI to a general-purpose programming
language. On the desktop it has been favored by some new programmers as
a rapid prototyping environment. It is both a quick and effective tool
for create rapid web applications with ease, greatly improving any
website as a whole.
</en.wikipedia.org>----------------------
On 11/1/05, allan juul <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Joshua Kogut wrote:
> Hey guys, here's an analogy concerning Php and MP. You can go to a store,
> and you have $100 US to buy something to help you hammer nails. The logical
> choice is that you should buy a hammer right? It does what you need it to,
> and the shallow learning curve is nice. But, on the way to the hammer
> section, you see this multi-purpose tool that can not only hammer the nail
> for you, but it can also buy the nail, hold the nail in the wood, and then
> make lemonade for you. Now, you go buy the multi-purpose tool, bring it
> home, and then realize that it doesn't do the one job that you wanted it
> for, hammering, as well as a hammer would.
>
> This is how I felt with Perl. It did so many things that I felt that it just
> couldn't concentrate one one thing enough, web applications. So, I found
> myself at php.net < http://php.net> one day and fell in love with the trusty
> hammer.
i _really_ like your analogy even i strongly disagree (perl/mp is a
toolbox rather than a single multi-purpose-tool IMO)
so, you could turn that analogy upside down ;)
let's say you opted to buy the cheap tool (the simple hammer) and you
got home and started hammering. midway thru you realize that you made a
mistake so you want the nail out but now you haven't got the tool
because the tool you bought can only hammer.
so you go back to the shop and "invest" in the toolbox. (actually you
just swap your original hammer with the toolbox since they are both the
same price ). then you go home again. you open the toolbox. wow. theres
a hammer ... no wait there are 2,3,4,N hammers, different sizes,
different materials, different colours. but please don't use the
screwdrivers as a hammer. there are also N tools to take out the nails.
did you run out of nails? no problem, look in the box.
./allan
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The official User-To-User support forum of the Apache HTTP Server Project.
See <URL: http://httpd.apache.org/userslist.html> for more info.
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
" from the digest: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--
|| jmkogut ||
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
|| Networking: Where all your problems are category 5. ||
