Michael wrote:
This was about half of my point, writing these applications in PHP is
difficult, it is a task to be overcome. PHP requires cajoling into being
useful. Your solution to "use the Java extension" is peculiarly ironic -
yes: Use Java!
If the only language you know is PHP i'm sure it looks very capable, and
i was, several years ago, in this position (wanting to write various
desktop apps in it) the wise and experienced freenode gurus then told me
to learn the right tools. Despite how it may look from the myopia of
primarily PHP development, PHP isnt a desktop-capable language. It would
take a great deal of time and effort to do in PHP what would take a
handful of lines in python, due to the extensive library support.
Many PHP programmers goes thru' the phase of wanting to write 'http
servers', 'irc clients', etc. in PHP. It would be irresponsible to not
point them in the direction of more capable languages, when they are in
fact, greatly more capable.
I program in several languages, but I do enjoy the speed in which I can
cobble together something functional in PHP with minimal effort. You
underestimate the glue power of PHP. I don't need to program something
like mplayer in PHP, it is sufficient that I can control it and expand
upon it via PHP. PHP is quite competent at filling many of the roles
formerly handled by Perl. Yes there are advantages to other languages,
certainly other languages can be better choices for any particular
application, but outright exclusion of PHP just to fulfill your fantasy
of the right tool for the job is just silly.
Cheers,
Rob.
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