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PHP

Is PHP considered a good language?

Before I learn something I always try to compare it with many other options. So I have read many comparisons about PHP and ASP.NET, Ruby, Java, etc.

Most articles consider PHP as an ugly and dirty solution and not for enterprise. So, why? what is the problem in PHP?

Cheers.

5 Answers

I don't know what the problem is, but what I do know is that PHP is used on many websites and if you are gong to maintain old site then you should learn PHP. I have been hearing a lot about how great Ruby is so that is probably the way to go.

I don't think there is anything wrong with PHP. Wordpress uses PHP, Facebook still is basically PHP today, and it started itself on PHP.

Always have to be careful reading comparison articles, as they almost always are quite opinionated if if they try to cloak themselves not to be.

Also, job boards tend to have a lot of PHP jobs open, which tells you it's a language in high demand...and use.

Hi Suli,

This is the second subjective / "leading the question" post I've seen you post.

See: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2008/05/php-sucks-but-it-doesnt-matter.html

PHP is a great and horrible language. It allows bad coders to code horribly, but that doesn't mean you can't code well in PHP. It's not the language, it's the programmer, pick a language you like and stick with it, odds are you'll be able to solve the majority of issues you want to solve with it.

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Why move to Node.js?

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Node has so many flaws.. It's by no means perfect OR necessary. Just because there are more of something doesn't make it "better". There are different use cases for different frameworks. And there are more Rails developers than Node, not to mention Javascript is a painfully slow language.

This sums up the current fad with node: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzkRVzciAZg

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This is a favorite topic here on the forums, in fact there's a whole tag just for php vs ruby on rails

Including a very popular answer from Randy Hoyt