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Actually, that was exactly my point. A templating language like smarty does separate the presentation logic from the business logic -- but it does so by using a parsed language to parse yet another language, which is not the height of efficiency. PHP itself can be used in the same way, without introducing the additional overhead.

But then, this topic has been covered by others far more eloquentthan me.

"Database abstraction? Why would anyone need that?"
http://php.net/pdo

"Namespaces? Why would anyone need that?"
it's coming

"Design patterns? What are those?"
http://php.net/language.oop5.patterns
http://phppatterns.com
php|architect's Guide to PHP Design Patterns

"Security? If it's a problem, we'll fix it later."
http://php.net/security
(Almost all of PHP's historical security problems have been third-party.)

S

Well, you must be friends with the guy who wrote this.

Thank you....just checking out hudzilla now, and it looks like a good resource. I can deal with not having flippy pages if I've got good data ;)

I've spent a fair bit of time at PHPpatterns (I think that's phppatterns.com, if anyone else is reading.) Too bad it doesn't seem to be seeing updates lately. I owe that man a beer.

Seems to be that this whole XUL/XAML/DHTML craze is all about creating more interactive web applications, not about rewriting the destkop system.

After all, the C++ code that implements the scrollbar, or button, or whatever isn't going away, it's just being described in a standard manner. I guess that gives the application more portability, in theory.

To switch gears with some thoughts on XUL (and XUL like technologies)... The other day I was reading how interesting XUL was on phpPatterns and using it to build a web-based desktop-like application. The one example people like to point to is that AmazonBrowser. Perhaps the greatest potential for these XUL like languages is for those web features we have a tough time building today.

Whoever thought of HTML frames probably wanted XUL, but knew that nothing like it could be done right now, so frames were a cheap navigational system that could provide a semi-familiar GUI to end users in that only the "content pane" gets updated.

HTML interfaces will still be around. Not only because they're still a great mechanism for internet information display, but because people are used to them. They're used to website design, they like the way it is. XUL-like apps will probably be most used as embedded application interfaces for managing devices... at least in the beginning.

Check out the SitePoint forums for Advanced PHP. The pro's and con's of template engines have been discussed over there in length and it is just a great resource for advanced PHP topics. SitePoint Forums.

Also, take a look at Harry Fuecks website PhpPatterns. He also has detailed information about PHP templating and the theory behind the code.

Try google!

Search for "php unit testing" ;-)

If you're too lazy, here are some links:

Unit Testing in PHP
PHPUnit

Happy unit testing!

Imperator wrote:

Use a good template system like Smarty. Just because PHP lets you mix code with HTML doesn't mean it's a good idea.

There are some who would strongly disagree with you on this point. For some interesting arguments against templating systems written in PHP, check out this article at phpPatterns.