
DHH on the pluses of PHP - raghus
http://www.loudthinking.com/posts/23-the-immediacy-of-php
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aneesh
If anyone else had written this, it wouldn't be worth noting.

~~~
zapnap
Although I definitely think you're correct, it's an important point none the
less. A lot of us get so caught up in bashing PHP usage for large apps that we
forget it's really great for small throwaway scripts and prototyping mini-
apps.

DHH pointing this out reminds us that even someone super devoted/entrenched in
the RoR world can see the utility of it for this kind of use case, and that
the rest of us should as well.

~~~
ssharp
If you can't maintain your large scale PHP projects, more blame lies with you
than it does the platform.

Unfortunatley, the ease of getting PHP scripts up and running leads to the
bulk of its poor implementation. Is the lesson to make setup just difficult
enough to scare of the novices?

~~~
parker
If PHP wasn't easy to get started with, I would have never started developing
for the web, period.

Remember, everyone was a novice once. Lowering the constraints to get started
can only mean that more great things will be created, not less.

~~~
mattmaroon
Ditto. There's a lot to be said for being available on every $8 shared hosting
platform on the web. In a couple weeks I had my first database driven site up
and running using the LAMP stack with no prior programming or Linux experience
at all.

Thank god it is now defunct so I can't embarrass myself by linking to it.

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jotto
DHH is the one who led the way for much of the PHP bashing that has gone in
the past few years. Still, his contributions have influenced many (PHP,
django, merb, some java). Its kind of ironic that he complements PHP now, but
its also kind of sad. DHH probably figures (and rightly so) that so many
people take his word for gospel so he has a bit of social responsibility in
admitting that PHPs many benefits have a place.

~~~
hollywoodcole
I agree with you, I was confused at first that this was the same guy we saw
bashing PHP b/c ruby code looked so much better.

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hooande
In the next issue of "Backhanded Compliments Weekly", Bill Gates discusses how
macs are pretty good for "artsy stuff"

~~~
jgrahamc
When I read his comment it reminded me of this:

<http://www.spinaltapfan.com/articles/tapdef.html>

And the classic last line: Though neither a critics' nor a public favorite,
Spinal Tap continues to fill a much needed void.

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davidw
"PHP scales down like no other package for the web and it deserves more credit
for tackling that scope."

See: <http://www.welton.it/articles/scalable_systems.html>

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henning
PHP apps are something that you can generally put on a $3/month shared hosting
account without having to babysit and admin everything. $20/month or more plus
admin overhead just to have a blagoblag you have control over is more than a
lot of people are willing to invest.

I don't think anyone has ever accused PHP of not scaling down, though.

My biggest beef with the PHP community is their lack of concern for security.

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brianmckenzie
How weird - just today I had to program something in PHP for the first time in
years. I sometimes like to go back and use languages I haven't touched in a
long time - it makes me thankful for what I have now, and the code I write in
the old language is always better for the exposure to more powerful languages.
Not that I'll be breaking out QuickBasic anytime soon. =)

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edw519
I have always likened php to those old Kodak brownie cameras. Doesn't seem
like much, but in the hands of a skilled practitioner, magic can be made.

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shaunxcode
skillset v.s. toolset. I am quite certain in the right hands php is just as
capable as any other "web" language. I agree that the average php developer
seems to lack any sense of security awareness.

~~~
nuggien
Correction: "...the average WEB developer seems to lack any sense of security
awareness."

