Caveat: I'm a PHP developer for Zend, and
a lead author on several PHP open source projects. I'm also a perl
developer. I use both languages regularly, though PHP more often than perl
in recent years, due to the nature of my places of employment. I'm going to
refute some points about PHP below, based on my experience with the
language.
From what I understand, similar things are available in PHP as
well
Yes, they are, including a PHP port
of Cgiapp (that's a shameless plug), the Smarty templating
language, the Savant templating
language, and many others. In fact, regarding templating languages,
PHP, in Rasmus Lerdorf's own words, was meant to be a templating language
(Savant takes that approach, actually).
There are number of frameworks similar in nature to Catalyst and
CGI::Application out there for PHP as well -- Solar, Symfony, Cerebral
Cortex, and Seagull, to name a few.
PHP does not have the breadth of coverage that CPAN does
This is debatable. The difference between PHP and Perl is that Perl has CPAN
as a common repository. PHP has PEAR, but
PEAR doesn't have quite the extensive library CPAN does. However, it does
have some pretty rigid guidelines for contribution, one of which is that it
(in recent years) allows duplication of packages only when the approach
significantly differs, leading to what is hoped as 'best-in-breed'
packages. Additionally, there are a number of other sites that are
aggregating packages out there, including phpclasses. I'm betting that the
number of PHP libraries out there is similar to perl's -- if in fact it
hasn't exceeded perl's at this point.
However, a key difference to note is that PHP is primarily targeted at
web development. So the breadth and scope of packages for PHP is
going to be significantly different than that for Perl.
The main reason I avoid PHP though is the myriad security problems, lack of
a consistent database interface, the habit of having a million functions in
the main namespace with no particular naming convention or consistency, and
the rather strange nature of PHP data types which allow you to mix hashes
and ordered lists in a single structure.
To this I reply:
- There are security problems in just about every language; perl is not
immune to this. Most security problems seen recently have less to do with
the language itself as with bad programming practices (e.g., phpBB).
- PHP is addressing the "consistent database interface" issue with the PDO
library, which is due for PHP 5.1 (and has been backported to the 5.0.x
series).
- I agree with the "million function in the main namespace" comment; this
is very frustrating for a PHP developer. However, many of these functions
are very narrow and targetted in scope -- and correct usage of them can
greatly optimize a script.
- I like the mixing of hashes and arrays. This actually makes
many types of operations easier, to my thinking. It is merely
different from perl, not necessarily a disadvantage.
As for the OP, what it comes down to is: does it make good business sense
for you to learn PHP at this time? If the project has a narrow deadline, and
it's known that there will be Perl developers in your company for the
forseeable future, it may not make sense; you're more familiar with perl and
its libraries, and you'll be able to maintain the site more easily as you
won't need to 'switch modes' between the two languages.
However, your boss may have some particular ideas for why s/he wants PHP:
cheaper, more plentiful developer base (though that may change); easier to
find hosting should s/he decide to outsource the hosting (I see PHP on more
shared hosts than perl); perhaps some business partnerships that would
involve exchanging APIs and code.
Do more research before you make your decision; but don't believe all FUD
you hear about either language.
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Thanks for the informative update, weierophinney. It seems at least some of my PHP knowledge is old and crusty. Fortunately I have the luxury right now of continuing to be a Perl snob. ;-)
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