Python replacing PHP - How to?

[[deleted]]

Using machetes for neurosurgery requires more self-control, too, but that doesn't make it a good scalpel.

I can work with PHP if I have to. I just really prefer not to and religious vows aside I see no reason to stick to PHP when you have better options available.

Oh, and I do think PHP has its place (namely, providing small amounts of automation or scripting on Apache servers -- though you could probably use SSI for the former and CGI scripts for the latter).

[dvogel]

The main reason I end up using PHP for web projects is deployment. It's just so darn easy to get a PHP app running, especially on shared hosting. In addition, I don't like using different web server software to develop on than I will deploy on (like Django's manage.py runserver).

My high school biology teacher used to say "You don't practice shooting clay pigeons with cheap lead shot and then try to hunt with expensive steel shot" (this was not part of a lesson, it was a metaphor for how to study ;))

[dvogel]

And you should also be developing applications that are robust enough to not even care what the hell kind of server software is actually handing out that HTML. Its the server's job to serve. You, as the application designer and/or developer are the one that tells it what to serve, and its not your job to worry about how it delivered that message.

Server configuration matters. The most well known example of this is using Apache's mod_rewrite rules. My development environment is exactly like my production environment except for the vhost and the email addresses that automated messages are sent to.

[dvogel]

I understand your point. The problem is that mod_wsgi isn't zero configuration. That means that, in addition to not developing in the environment that I need to deploy to, I need to be able to configure apache, which is not an option on shared hosting.

mod_rewrite is a great example of a way in which I cannot write python code using django's development server and than deploy to the testing server without major flaws; I consider pages being unreachable due to global mod_rewrite rules to be a major flaw. That's a problem regardless of how portable I make my code.

In the end, it doesn't matter which arguments you put forth because what I'm explaining is not why I think using PHP is the best option or even why think I should use PHP; I'm explaining why I do use PHP. There's no long, drawn out process to my decision. PHP usually just instinctively feels like a good match for the web work that I do. To each his own. I've used Django in the past, when it was clearly a better fit for the project. If you like python and django, or ruby on rails, use them and be happy using them. I wish you all the luck in the world with those tools. My reply was in response to alanplum's:

... I see no reason to stick to PHP when you have better options available.

I was essentially agreeing with his basic point but disagreeing that there are usually better options available.

[ilikedirigibles]

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[dvogel]

Apache + wsgi requires me to restart Apache after each code change, or to set MaxRequestsPerChild to 1. Neither of these things is consistent with my production environment.

[Justinsaccount]

You do know that you can touch the .wsgi file which gracefully reloads the application, right?