Why PHP?

[ovidiucucu]

Which of these arguments you consider are important to chose PHP between other similar scripting languages?
Also, please feel free to criticize any of them you consider it's not true.

[ovidiucucu]

Note that you can check multiple choices in this poll.

Any comment is welcomed.

[Mutilated1]

In my opinion its easy and free are the best reasons. I've been doing ASP for about 8 years and doing PHP for nearly two just for fun. PHP is loads easier, and I would be in heaven if my boss allowed us to use it, but unfortunately everyone is committed to .NET like its so wonderful or something, when PHP 5 is loads better. So I will continue to use .NET cause its my job but for my own sites I can do more, faster, more easily, and cheaper with PHP.

[cilu]

I think the most important reason of using php is not that it is free, but the fact that it work so well with MySql which is free. Even the yahoo guys gave up on yscript and turned to php.

[marsh_pottaye]

it's easy / it's free / for a C (C++) programmer its syntax looks good :thumb:

[micknustiunimik]

PHP is COOL :)

[Tleilaxu]

it's easy / it's free / for a C (C++) programmer its syntax looks good :thumb:

I agree.

[Hokutata]

it's free so my boss impose me to use it :sick: :( :mad: :cry:
Sorry, I forgot to check the second choice.

[bubu]

Well, I used to code in ASP. But since I learned PHP, I can see it is much better!

[ovidiucucu]

it's free so my boss impose me to use it :sick: :( :mad: :cry:

Don't be :sick:, don't be :mad:, don't :cry:! You are really lucky, man. ;)

[Amn]

The only reason I like PHP is because it is popular.

There is some stuff I DEFINITELY DONT LIKE about it:

1. include and require directive are very funny in resolving relative paths, see this discussion: http://www.phpbuilder.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10284093

2. One cannot have local extensions only for a shared site. Extensions are installed for the whole PHP parsing engine, and admins are afraid of them, because they may mess up shared host machines (which host several unrelated sites for customers). THats a no-no for a popular server scripting solution.

3. Again, shared hosts are a pain-in-the-*** in PHP. Just consider your site lying under physical path reported by PHP to be c:/wwwroot/sharedhosts/mydomain.com/. When using include as <include '/mydir/myfile.html/'> it willa actually look in c:/ and not in the above mentioned shared host path. This makes hosting a shared site a big problem.

4. One cannot do a binary data manipulation. If one could, I would already develop my own JPEG/GIF/PNG compression/decompression library in PHP without having to use all those ImageMagick and GD stuff I despise so much.

[Hokutata]

Don't be :sick:, don't be :mad:, don't :cry:! You are really lucky, man. ;)
Right. I just have taken a look in a Cold Fusion and an ASP manual, and now I'm :)

[micknustiunimik]

Right. I just have taken a look in a Cold Fusion and an ASP manual, and now I'm :)
Just curious... WHY?

[Mutilated1]

There is some stuff I DEFINITELY DONT LIKE about it:

3. Again, shared hosts are a pain-in-the-*** in PHP. Just consider your site lying under physical path reported by PHP to be c:/wwwroot/sharedhosts/mydomain.com/. When using include as <include '/mydir/myfile.html/'> it willa actually look in c:/ and not in the above mentioned shared host path. This makes hosting a shared site a big problem.


That is because you don't understand the path correctly. /mydir equates to c:\mydir in the Windows world. You need to include './mydir/myfile.php' instead.



4. One cannot do a binary data manipulation. If one could, I would already develop my own JPEG/GIF/PNG compression/decompression library in PHP without having to use all those ImageMagick and GD stuff I despise so much.

Where did you get the idea that you cannot manipulate binary data ? Thats just not true, you absolutely can. If you think you can do better than GD or ImageMagick, then by all means go ahead and do it.

[First Base]

Why PHP?
Because it is the best, yet most felxible web dev language ever, plus, it's free!!!

[YourSurrogateGod]

Why PHP?
Because it is the best, yet most felxible web dev language ever, plus, it's free!!!
So is JSP. Albeit, I prefer ASP myself.