Posted by Tim Tyler on 09/29/05 20:36

In comp.lang.java.advocacy beliavsky@aol.com wrote or quoted:

> Here is the beginning of a story in the 29 Sep 2005 Wall Street
> Journal. [...]

> "When it comes to the Web and Web applications, Java is not the right
> language," Mr. Andreessen says.
>
> Java remains useful for building major pieces of software
> infrastructure, such as financial management or airline-reservation
> systems, Mr. Andreessen says. But he adds: "PHP is the language to
> build Web applications and Web sites that people use on a daily basis.
> PHP is to 2005 what Java was to 1995."'

Plus points for PHP:

* Open source software;
* Ubiquitous - bundled with Apache for ages;
* Dynamic language;
* Language has built in maps;

Minus points for PHP:

* Language is a tasteless hack; evolved - rather than designed;
* PHP apps are often plagued by security problems;
* Niche language - only suitable for building web apps with;
* No concept of namespaces/packages - function prefixes are used instead;
* PHP has legacy embarrasing huge global namespace;
* OO PHP code is peppered with cheesy "->" and "$" symbols;
* Code safety features are pretty slack in PHP;

PHP is probably too different to Java for a head to head comparison
to make very much sense. I'd point at Python as more squarely a
competitor to Java.
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