

Ask HN: Should I code my next project in PHP or Ruby? - C1D

Hello,  
I'm a PHP developer and I'm working a new video hosting project and was wondering if I should learn Ruby and then code it in that or just use what I'm good at, PHP.  
Thanks :)
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tangue
If you can do it in php do it. Don't waste your time learning another
language. Focus on your product, not on what the average geek says.

~~~
fakeer
Yes. I learned it hard way.

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micromarty
I had this dilemma while back. I decided to suck it up and learn Ruby and
Rails. I now realized that I hate PHP and have used rails, django, and play
for all of my web applications and have not looked back.

If you are in a learning mood, I'd say go with rails.

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dragonwriter
_Personally_ , I prefer Ruby to PHP. But:

If the point is to build the video hosting project, and you are productive
using PHP, then that's probably the best option.

If the point is to increase the breadth of your development skills while
building the video hosting project, choosing a new language like Ruby might
make sense.

If you've identified a specific technical challenge in what you want to do
that makes PHP problematic, investigating alternatives (including different
languages, though that's probably not the first thing to look at) for that
particular problem also makes sense.

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C1D
Well I want to become a better programmer and also work on a project for fun
so I think Ruby would be good as it would expand my knowledge of programming.
EDIT: I think I'm going to go with node.JS

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websitescenes
In that case, do it. That's exactly what I did to learn Ruby. I came from php
and have never looked back. I suggest using Rails on top of Ruby.

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PLenz
Code is code - it's the concepts behind it that matter. If this is going to
paying project then go PHP - it's what you know and you'll be able to get it
done faster and probably with higher quality. If this is just a project for
your own gratification then I suggest Ruby - or Node.js or Haskell or Erlang
or 8086 Assembler or ... It doesn't matter. When you are your own client you
do what you need to do to make you happy. Doing something because we busy
bodies on HN think you should ultimately does nothing for my happiness or
yours.

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C1D
I have allot of spare time and I think starting this project would be a good
idea to use my time. I think I'm going to with what language I really like,
which is node.js.

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dirktheman
Alternatively, you could learn to use a framework instead of a whole new
language. I've been using Laravel for a while now, and it's awesome!

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Sealy
I was in the same boat as you a few months ago.

Then I thought to myself. I wonder if Zuckerberg back in 2004 asked himself
that.

If Facebook is capable of running the most popular website in the world
successfully on PHP, then it'll probably be good enough for me!

My vote goes for PHP. Stick with what you know.

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ryanwjackson
I was in the same shoes, and I decided to learn Rails. I haven't looked back
since, but then again, I was in a startup and wanted to walk out with some new
skills.

Rails is great, not for everything, but it does make standing up a new site
pretty darn easy. Personally, I won't touch PHP again if I have my choice.

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C1D
Thanks for that :) I'm looking into RoR but I don't know where to learn it,
can you give any suggestions? Also does RoR have support with mongo? EDIT: I
think I'm going to go with node.JS

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tomashertus
Probably the best place where to start is <http://guides.rubyonrails.org/> and
<http://railscasts.com/> .

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wldlyinaccurate
I'll just reiterate what other people have already said: If this is a serious
project then stick with what you know. By all means, learn Ruby by using it
for some side projects, but don't use it for serious projects until you
_really_ understand it or you'll just end up writing bad code.

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jeffasinger
Ruby (or my recommended choice of Python) is likely going to take you longer
in the short term than PHP is. But you'll probably save some time with
maintenance and new features in the future, and learn something new.

So, if you're not in a big rush, I'd learn a better language than PHP.

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xauronx
Nothing wrong with PHP, just use what you know and are good at.

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deadfall
"Nothing wrong with PHP" is a comment to start a huge debate.

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xauronx
Haha, yeah, I know. It's kind of a sweeping dismissal of most of those
arguments. PHP is not cool but it's still good at getting a job done.

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AbhishekBiswal
If you're comfortable with PHP, and have previously used it in some other
project, do it with PHP. Because if you learn a new language now, you'll lose
a lot of time.

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aitharaj
Ruby on Rails. It saves you so much time and its beautiful.

