2009/2/8 tedd <tedd.sperling@xxxxxxxxx>: > At 3:54 PM +0000 2/8/09, Stuart wrote: >> >> 2009/2/8 tedd <tedd.sperling@xxxxxxxxx>: >> >> > I wasn't able to find a lot of information, but here's a useful link: >>> >> > http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html >> >> Tedd, that's a list of programming languages, not web development >> languages. > > The list shows php, javascript, ruby, and perl -- are those NOT web > development languages?!? I didn't say it doesn't include web development languages, just that it's not limited to them. >> I have no doubt that C# + VB accounts for more development >> in the world than PHP. Both are used extensively in non-web >> development whereas PHP is not. >> >> > If you find any information of the numbers of php users out there, >> please >> > let me know. >> >> When you consider how such a thing would be measured it won't take >> long to realise why the number is not available. You have to bear in >> mind non-public use which will not be insignificant, servers where PHP >> is not advertised and a multitude of other reasons why any number you >> could come up with *will* be wrong, and therefore pretty useless. >> >> Why anyone would see value in such a number is beyond me. IMHO the >> community that exists around it and the number of jobs out there >> requiring PHP should be enough to convince anyone that it's not an >> insignificant player. > > -Stuart > > I guess I'm not all that bright. To me a programming language is a > programming language regardless of platform or purpose -- that was so when I > was programming FORTRAN on Phoenix I, or Applesoft on Apple ]['s, or > postscript on HI's; or ANSI C on Alphas, or FutureBasic and C/C++ on Macs, > or PHP on Apache, or Javascript on IE -- they are all the same to me. I'm > just trying to get a handle on the number of people who program in php -- > what's wrong with wanting to know that figure? There's nothing wrong with wanting to know it, there's just no reliable way to measure it so why bother asking for it? > Look, I teach at the local college and am trying to get PHP/MySQL courses to > be taught there. I have superiors who are asking "How does PHP stack up > against ASP?" which the college teaches AS THE web development language. I > really can't go back to them and say "Well, everyone just *knows* PHP is a > significant player" -- that's not proof. Ask them for proof that ASP is worth teaching over PHP? I bet they have just as much trouble coming up with solid proof that ASP as a platform is any more popular than PHP, or more valuable as a teaching language. When I was at university we were taught Java rather than C++ because, and I quote one of the professors, "we don't need to teach you proper memory management". I count myself lucky that I'd learnt C++ 12 years before I got there. I suggest you point them at the big players in the web world who use PHP... Facebook, Yahoo, etc. If that doesn't convince them of its importance in the world of web development nothing will. > Sometimes I have to wonder why anyone would question an honest question? I'm not questioning the question, I'm questioning the accuracy of any answer you could possibly come up. Describe a practical method of measuring language use that's likely to yield an accurate result then I'll eat my words, but I'm yet to come up with one. -Stuart -- http://stut.net/ -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
