I guess I am not following your argument. Are you not saying that since PHP is less verbose than Java, this is better for productivity? After which you then follow up and say that PHP becoming more like Java is not bad? Seems contradictory, no?
My point was that it was ironic for people to say that PHP becoming more Java-like was a bad thing, but then they said that they prefer Java to PHP.
You are right, I did sneak in there that I find PHP less verbose than Java as an advantage, since most people complain about how much typing you need to do in Java I thought this was worth highlighting.
However personally I think PHP evolving to be more similar to Java was a good thing, even better because imo they copied the good parts, ie: OOP instead of the verbosity but that's up for debate.
In short, becoming more like Java was good, but PHP isn't Java and has its own advantages for web development, imo this is that it is less verbose and easier to write.
