Wall Street Journal article on PHP and Java

[beliavsky@aol.com]

Here is the beginning of a story in the 29 Sep 2005 Wall Street
Journal. The WSJ web site requires a paid subscription to access
articles.

PHP Language Wins Supporters
As Tool for Making Web Software

Alternative to Sun's Java
Is Adopted by Companies,
Developers Like Andreessen
By DAVID BANK
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
September 29, 2005; Page B4

'Back when the Web was young, Marc Andreessen, then the wunderkind
co-founder of Netscape Communications Inc., gave his backing to a new
software programming language from Sun Microsystems Inc. That blessing
launched the Java language as a counterweight to Microsoft Corp.'s
technology dominance.

A decade later, Mr. Andreessen is endorsing another programming
language called PHP as an alternative to Java for creating a new
generation of Internet software.

PHP, like Java, has the support of some of technology's heaviest
hitters, including International Business Machines Corp., Oracle Corp.,
Intel Corp. and SAP AG. In an indication that "Internet time" still
moves quickly, Mr. Andreessen and other developers say Java is being
superseded by the simpler, faster PHP for building Web applications and
services.

"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."'

[Tim Tyler]

Re: Wall Street Journal article on PHP and Java

In comp.lang.java. advocacy beliavsky@aol.c om wrote or quoted:
[color=blue]
> Here is the beginning of a story in the 29 Sep 2005 Wall Street
> Journal. [...][/color]
[color=blue]
> "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."'[/color]

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.
--
__________
|im |yler http://timtyler.org/ tim@tt1lock.org Remove lock to reply.

[Roedy Green]

Re: Wall Street Journal article on PHP and Java

On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 17:36:45 GMT, Tim Tyler <tim@tt1lock.or g> wrote
or quoted :
[color=blue]
>Plus points for PHP:
>
>* Open source software;
>* Ubiquitous - bundled with Apache for ages;
>* Dynamic language;
>* Language has built in maps;[/color]

I agree with the hack assessment. PHP really offends aesthetically. On
the other paw it is a practical language. Unlike Java, you can in a
very few keystrokes you get ordinary tasks done, like an SQL query or
a HashMap.

Java has rather stubbornly resisted syntactic sugar measures to make
it friendly to the application programmer. Everything is geared for
those who write libraries.

The rise of PHP and C# is the result.
--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
http://mindprod.com Again taking new Java programming contracts.

[Oliver Wong]

Re: Wall Street Journal article on PHP and Java

"Tim Tyler" <tim@tt1lock.or g> wrote in message news:InLA99.5xn @bath.ac.uk...[color=blue]
> PHP is probably too different to Java for a head to head comparison
> to make very much sense.[/color]

I agree. The article reads, to me, like: "BitTorrent revolutionizes file
sharing. Famous Person quoted as saying 'I used to share files with my
friends by burning CDs and taking the bus, but the BitTorrent protocol is so
much faster. Buses are good for some things, like public transportation, but
BitTorrent is the wave of the future, baby!'"

Then again, they probably mean to compare the "JSP" subset of Java to
PHP, but the "Marc Andreessen [...] gave his backing to a new software
programming language from Sun Microsystems Inc. That blessing launched the
Java language as a counterweight to Microsoft Corp.'s technology dominance."
paragraph is VERY misleading in this regard.

- Oliver

[Bjorn Borud]

Re: Wall Street Journal article on PHP and Java

[Tim Tyler <tim@tt1lock.or g> ]
|
| 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.

I think the press misinterpreted Andreesen somewhat because, as you
say, a direct comparison doesn't really make much sense. the press,
however, is in the business of selling clicks/pageviews/newspapers so
it isn't really in their interest to qualify exactly what Andreesen
meant. you sell more issues if you say something unexpected to get
people's attention.

-Bjørn