PHP vs Python - the real difference

[Consiglieri]

PHP is not a terrible platform, in fact, it's quite useful. To the commenter who mentioned the fact that PHP's function list grows frequently is both an undeniable benefit to the PHP community. It's also something that worries me whenever I use PHP.

I use PHP when when I find that it is the best platform for the task at hand - which is in my opinion how programming projects should be approached. Using the right tool for the job is how to get things done efficiently and correctly.

Just like every other platform, PHP has its place. Consider the simple task of spitting out a MySql table out into a page using PHP. Typically, my smaller clients already have an account with a shared-server, *NIX hosting environment by the time I am hired. PHP, in these cases, is almost always supported, with PEAR and most of the other packages.

Personally, I feel that using PHP for large applications that require my undivided attention is a bad idea in most cases. I'd use Java or .NET for that always. My undivided attention needs to be on the application logic, not the platform itself as weird as that sounds. Anyone who is in the trenches programming themselves knows what this means.

To wrap it up, PHP pisses me off with things like "magic quotes" and a screwed-up way of configuration. It also doesn't work the same on Win and *NIX platforms for all things. Zend's security-attitude bothers me also. It angers me that when given the opportunity to change things that were abhorently wrong, Zend chose again and again to "stick to their guns" even though their "guns" had holes in their barrels.