PEAR Stable Finally Released

joestump98 writes "PEAR, the CPAN equivelent for PHP, has finally been released as stable on UNIX platforms (not including Darwin). Combined with the release of PHP 4.3 this should help make PHP a more robust language."

Comments

And crash says mozilla

[synq]

That site crashed my mozilla 1.3a instantly. And I didn't like PHP that much anyway.

Guess CPAN and Perl are here to stay.

Re:And crash says mozilla

[McCarrum]

Yes it is .. but somehow, I don't think for that reason.

Re:And crash says mozilla

[synq]

But still, once you find that your site crashes mozilla there must be something seriously wrong and you'd check why immediately. And if something like this (which I find surely deserves attention) does that I'd say it doesn't do good for PEAR.

Re:And crash says mozilla

[MrDBCooper]

A Mozilla crash is a Mozilla bug.

Windows PHP and PEAR

[McCarrum]

I nabbed a copy as soon as I could, but the Windows tarball didn't have PEAR bundled with it like the earlier versions. I spent a good half a day trying to grab it with zero success.

4.2.3's version's PEAR, whilst not 1.0, still worked very nicely (under 4.3.0) with the test code I've been working on. Wonder if this was an oversight or if there's a real reason for it ... (cue paranoid music)

Is this at all useful?

[XO]

Every time I install a new ver of PHP (which, admittedly, lately, hasn't been all that much, since shortly after the big security bug was fixed), I've looked at PEAR, and I've always wondered "what good is this?". It looks like it's a whole large collection of code that gives PHP3 the functions that are in PHP4. Maybe I missed something, but it just doesn't appear terribly useful for anything.

Re:Is this at all useful?

[bumblebury]

wrong. wrong. wrong. PEAR is basically the same as CPAN (although its smaller at this point.) Go to http://pear.php.net, and do the minimum research before you post FUD. That way at least the FUD will be halfway believable.

Re:Is this at all useful?

[XO]

I was merely pointing out my own observation. You don't even have a command of what FUD means.

Re:Is this at all useful?

[Azureash]

You missed something alright...

PEAR provides, among other things, a great collection of libraries for database abstraction and error reporting. I use the beta all the time and have had success.

Doesn't sound like you bothered to read any documentation before you posted...just like a lot of the self-professed Perl-lovers also posting anti-PHP messages. Hating languages you know nothing about doesn't make you much of a developer.

Re:Is this at all useful?

[bumblebury]

Fear. Uncertainty. Disorder. Your just expressing your personal opinion? Well, I guess if that's your justification for sounding like an idiot, I won't get in your way. :-)

Re:Is this at all useful?

[bumblebury]

s/Your/You're/

Re:Is this at all useful?

[XO]

Actually, the only language I've used for anything in the last few years has been PHP (I'm not much of a developer, I will quite readily admit).

The database abstraction things that I've seen posted everywhere seem to be far more complex than they really need to be - or maybe I simply don't have a use for their complexity - I have a roughly 100 or so line PHP file that has several functions for referring to any SQL capable database, and to make it work with a different database software (re: mSQL vs. mySQL vs. pgSQL), just change three or so lines at the top of the file, and that changes the functions that are called, and it works with the new database, provided that the SQL is compatible. (yes, I know SQL is supposed to be a standard, but if you've ever migrated from mSQL to mySQL, you know that's not the case)

Error reporting? Is there something wrong with the built in error reporting?

Maybe I'm strange, but the documentation off the link for this story looks like a mess.

Re:Is this at all useful?

[Azureash]

The database abstraction things that I've seen posted everywhere seem to be far more complex than they really need to be - or maybe I simply don't have a use for their complexity - I have a roughly 100 or so line PHP file that has several functions for referring to any SQL capable database, and to make it work with a different database software (re: mSQL vs. mySQL vs. pgSQL), just change three or so lines at the top of the file, and that changes the functions that are called, and it works with the new database, provided that the SQL is compatible. (yes, I know SQL is supposed to be a standard, but if you've ever migrated from mSQL to mySQL, you know that's not the case)

Unless you're building extremly simple database back-ended apps, or jury-rigging dynamic function calls, you are probably using database specific functions (i.e. mysql_(...)) repeatedly in your code. What happens when you want to port your app over to a more powerful database (like PostgreSQL)? Answer: you have to change you function calls. PEAR's DB abstraction layer takes care of this for you by giving you generic DB function calls. In addition PEAR provides highly sophisticated functions that take care of a lot of minor (or not so minor) details such as freeing-up resources. PEAR DB also allows you to pinpoint how you receive data back from the DB, and has incredibly useful functions for populating associative arrays with DB data.

Error reporting? Is there something wrong with the built in error reporting?

This statement indicates that you have little experience with pinpoint error control. PEAR's error class gives developers the ability to precisely define how errors within specific functions or classes are handled, without having to resort to line after line of custom error handling code (or maybe you don't handle/check errors...?)

Because PEAR is a class in itself it allows a developer to inherit all its functionality with no additional code. PEAR is an extremely useful tool for object-oriented PHP. Perhaps your applications are so simple that they do not require this approach. If so, you really shouldn't consider yourself informed and experienced enough to post definitively on this issue. If your applications are larger, and you are not using OOP, than you are developing poor applications, plain and simple. Perhaps you should stick to Dreamweaver and MS Frontpage for your web design.

PEAR has flaws, but overall it is an extremly useful and time-saving extension to PHP. It is a shame that someone with no knowledge (by your own admission) on this subject feels compelled to post raw FUD for other uninformed and inexperienced readers.

P.S. If you're not simply trolling, and wish to prove your decency as an open-minded developer, try the following sites to get some information on PEAR. I will be more than happy to help you with your progress in PHP and forgive your initial outburst.

• http://www.phpbuilder.com/columns/stump20021223. php3
• http://www.phpbuilder.com/columns/allan20010115. php3

IN SOVIET RUSSIA...

[Anonymous Coward]

we use PHP!

in democratic america...
we use Perl.

Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA...

[zdarnell]

Thats the worst use of an already tired cliche i've ever seen.

Log in first?

[Twister002]

Why do I have to create an account and log in first before I can download it?