
PHP Is an Industry - throwphpaway
https://txt.fyi/+/37eb5136/
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planetzero
I've been writing PHP professionally in some form for over 15 years. I don't
think I've been out of work for more than a week and I currently make a very
good living (well into the 6-figures in the Midwest).

While PHP has it's issues as a language, it works very well for many
companies...and if you are good, you can get paid very well.

True story.

~~~
smt88
I also spent some time in the lucrative "I'll fix your PHP project" space. It
was a good paycheck, but it could be downright miserable. I'm sure static
analysis is better than it used to be though.

I think if you like fixing bugs (kind of like solving puzzles) and easing the
pain of stressed out small businesses, it's a great niche. I actually had a
teacher who still gets paid enormous sums to fix COBOL code for industry, so
perhaps PHP5 will be similar one day.

~~~
planetzero
"I think if you like fixing bugs (kind of like solving puzzles) and easing the
pain of stressed out small businesses, it's a great niche"

Fixing bugs is only a small part of what I do (like most developers). This is
less about the language and more about the previous developers that the small
business hired.

PHP runs almost everything for a client of mine (hundred-million dollar+
company) (I'm a consultant). I'm regularly involved in new features and new
code. New features and changes in PHP7 has made PHP into a much better
language.

I feel like Rails is the COBOL of our time. I remember when all of the cool
kids were using it around 2007 and the blind zealotry that ensued when anyone
tried to discuss its shortcomings.

Those same people now have since jumped ship and now are mostly involved in
various Javascript Frameworks.

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kossae
This has got to be one of the most terribly misguided, typo-ridden, and
judgmental posts I’ve ever seen about a programming language.

1\. “Crappy language for crappy developers” Seriously? Because Facebook among
other very large companies still use PHP

2\. An “industry”? Stuck? I’ve seen so many people easily transition out of a
job using PHP because people don’t CARE about what language you’re using, they
care if you’re a good engineer. I can promise you, referring back to point 1,
that there are “crappy developers” for every programming language. Companies
worth working for care about your skill set as an engineer overall, not which
language you might have worked with.

3\. No actual arguments on why PHP is bad from a technical standpoint? The
ecosystem and language has only been getting better and better. You can’t just
say “PHP BAD!” and act like you have some coherent argument.

Not worth my time spent. It’s clear you favor Ruby, but I’m not sure who
you’re trying to convince with this narrative. The “lol PHP sucks” meme has
been dead for a while now.

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dana321
I would say that its smarty templates that need to go in the bin.

Its a terrible, horrible POS that should have died a long time ago.

And all the frameworks.. So many, there is no need. Just pull in what you need
using composer.

PHP has came a long way, its just that most people haven't noticed the
language has improved and now has a great package manager.

