On the Inelegance of PHP
As a well-seasoned PHP developer for MantisBT and other projects, but at the same time a seasoned developer in Python, C++, Lua, etc, I found this interesting article on Hacker News, Yet, a short piece on the “history” and development of PHP as a language.
A few choice quotes that I most enjoyed:
I don’t know anyone who programs in PHP and hasn’t … become much more acquainted with the concept of “haystack” and “needle” than any one person should have to in a lifetime.
With time, an experienced developer learns that the only reason why any particular functionality is not in PHP is that it’s not there — yet.
Invariably, PHP developers who try to settle into a framework have the (often irresistible) urge to simply drop it and write their own, because, you see, there is no framework that does things the way he or she wants — yet.
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I really like working on the PHP projects that I’m a part of, but every time I write a Python script to do something, it just reminds me of how unsophisticated PHP really is as a language. Perhaps that’s OK; it certainly hasn’t stopped me… yet.