PHP At 20: From Pet Project To Powerhouse

snydeq writes: Ben Ramsey provides a look at the rise of PHP, the one-time 'silly little project' that has transformed into a Web powerhouse, thanks to flexibility, pragmatism, and a vibrant community of Web devs. "Those early days speak volumes about PHP's impact on Web development. Back then, our options were limited when it came to server-side processing for Web apps. PHP stepped in to fill our need for a tool that would enable us to do dynamic things on the Web. That practical flexibility captured our imaginations, and PHP has since grown up with the Web. Now powering more than 80 percent of the Web, PHP has matured into a scripting language that is especially suited to solve the Web problem. Its unique pedigree tells a story of pragmatism over theory and problem solving over purity."

Comments

Re:When does the powerhouse part start?

[Anonymous Coward]

I won't refuse to use an app just because it's written in PHP, but I do heavily weight it when comparing alternatives. PHP is a powerhouse in much the same way as McDonald's. It may be ubiquitous, but it still sucks and you have to question the judgement of anyone who chooses it to start a new project.

I'm going to print this out and put it on my office door.

You fucking nailed it...

And to any devs who have no software engineering experience outside of a web stack, fuck you, you're a cunt, and you don't count. It's a philosophical issue with you morons: it's an epistemological issue that you cannot fathom.. you're so stupid you don't know how dumb you even are.

I've worked with OS code, firmware, etc, and I quite literally hate 90% of the web dev programmers I meet. Formal methods? Verification? Decent specs? What are those?!?

But then again, good enough is good enough, correct? Until it's not.

Re:Cue non-programmers linking "A fractal of bad d

[vilanye]

Anyone using PHP is a non-programmer by definition.