Re: PHP versus all other languages

Pat Hanna wrote: > > I'm doing my senior exit project on database languages online. I'm asking > for help from anyone who can provide any information on the comparison > between the different languages. I'm comparing languages such as PHP, ASP, > ColdFussion, perl and any others that I might not know about that you guys > might know. Thank you to anyone who helps me out in the least. > > Patrick > > -- > Database integration--E-commerce solutions > The Wentworth Company > > Get paid cash every time you receive email! > Sign up FREE at: http://www.MintMail.com/?m=1080349 What criteria are you thinking of using to compare them? You might, for example, consider :  - useability - supportability - productivity - functionality - performance - scalability - stability/robustness - product support - ease of integration with other technologies and I guess you'll mention cost, but don't forget to include : - licensing costs - hardware costs - development personnel costs e.g. development programmers - administrative personnel costs e.g. system administrators, DBAs - support personnel costs e.g. support programmers For the record, I'd pick php over the others on the following grounds: 1. ColdFusion worries me when it comes to performance, functionality and its ease of integration with other technologies. Good integration with the other Macromedia technologies, e.g. Dreamweaver, Flash rather than good integration with databases and third-party web technologies smtp/xml etc. 2. ASP has product support,stability,robustness and in particular long-term backward compatibility issues. I would feel very nervous about signing a five year support contract for an ASP application without plenty of escape clauses! 3. Perl has issues over useability/supportability primarily because it was never designed for web database applications, not because it can't do them well. I would rather have to maintain an application someone else wrote in php than the same application written using Perl, simply because the php is likely to be much easier to follow and understand than the Perl. 4. It's not easy to find fault with php, except when it comes to marketing. It's grossly undersold, but then some of us find that very refreshing ;). George George.