PHP vs Python and Ruby

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dadli

Hello,
In recently time, I more and more listen, that Ruby or Python are bests languages that PHP.
I interested this is correctly? If yes, to tell least one example.
that is:
"Python (or Ruby) can "something", but php cann't this, so, php is worse!"
Please tell this "something".

dadli

Its wonder, 101 viewing and 0 answer, why ?

Jeff_Mott

It's not an easy question. Most people will specialize in one language, and have only a passing knowledge of others. Very, very few will have solid knowledge in all three.

svidgen

On top of that, linguistic preferences are rarely formed objectively. Taking PHP and C# as examples, I don't prefer PHP necessarily because it is "better" than C#, though I might at times claim it is. I likely prefer PHP because it suits my current coding preferences better: I can code efficient PHP more efficiently than I can code efficient C#.

As a general trend, I might also say that PHP sites feel faster than C# sites. But, I don't have concrete numbers to back that up. Nor do I have a firm understanding of the complexities of each site so as to make an accurate comparison. Perhaps simpler sites are just built using PHP, and more complex ones with C#.

If you're looking to get started with a new language, just pick one that's highly popular. Popularity generally ensures a good degree of community support (like this forum). But, be quick to respond to changes -- had you posed the question 10 years ago, I'd unequivocally recommended Perl. But, if you're still writing Perl today, you'd be wise to abandon it for web development purposes.

spufi

In terms of popularity, PHP runs circles around Python and Ruby.

dadli

In terms of popularity, today PHP unequivocally is #1 and i dont understand why people say, that ruby better php? I dont understood this.
Well, thanks for answers.

handcraftedweb

dadli;1207847 wrote:
In terms of popularity, today PHP unequivocally is #1 and i dont understand why people say, that ruby better php? I dont understood this.
Well, thanks for answers.

Ruby is a more modern and elegant language than is PHP. That's why some people say it is "better". Being a more consistently object oriented language, Ruby has productivity benefits if you have a good understanding of OOP.

But PHP is much more popular, and this means

more people know it
more add-ons (e.g. WordPress) available
it's on more servers (a low cost host service will likely have PHP but might not have Ruby) - possibly the most important issue here

My impression is that PHP is better for simpler projects and Ruby better for larger projects.

NogDog

Learn all three, though you don't need to become an expert in all three -- at least not immediately.

Once you know language A, learning language B not only means you know a new language, but it gives you insights into the strengths and weaknesses of language A while also teaching you new ways to think about programming in general. You may continue to use language A as your primary tool, but you'll now be better with it as well as able to switch relatively easily to language B should the need arise.

Also, the more languages you know, the easier it becomes to learn new ones when you need to.

svidgen

handcraftedweb;1207878 wrote:
Ruby is a more modern and elegant language than is PHP. That's why some people say it is "better". Being a more consistently object oriented language, Ruby has productivity benefits if you have a good understanding of OOP.

But PHP is much more popular, and this means

more people know it

more add-ons (e.g. WordPress) available

it's on more servers (a low cost host service will likely have PHP but might not have Ruby) - possibly the most important issue here

My impression is that PHP is better for simpler projects and Ruby better for larger projects.

Ruby and PHP both surfaced in 1995.

And I wholeheartedly disagree with the assessment that Ruby is any better for more complex projects, or that PHP is in any inadequate for complex applications. Facebook, for instance, is written in PHP.

spufi

handcraftedweb;1207878 wrote:
Being a more consistently object oriented language, Ruby has productivity benefits if you have a good understanding of OOP.

At this point, my default is using classes in PHP. Looking at somebody's code that is written in a procedural way just kind of makes me shake my head.

svidgen

spufi;1208346 wrote:
At this point, my default is using classes in PHP. Looking at somebody's code that is written in a procedural way just kind of makes me shake my head.

Nothing wrong with procedural development, so long as you approach it in a somewhat intelligent manner. In fact, a procedure-centric web application is often less prone to many of the inefficiencies that an OO application is -- unnecessary object instantiation being one of them! My personal projects are still written in mostly-procedural PHP -- with the exception of the client-side script, which is "OO" JavaScript.

That said, if you're in the mood to write some strictly OO code, C#/.NET is a good route to go. It's a robust platform with a great deal of community support, it's fantastic for building and consuming web services, and it's in very high demand. And perhaps more importantly, it makes OO code make some degree of sense in a typically stateless setting by fabricating state! (Lots of overhead for doing so, though.)

svidgen

Of course, my recommendation for C#/.NET comes from a lack of experience with Ruby. It's possible that Ruby performs some similar horrendously inefficient and clumsy state fabrication ...

spufi

I've already downloaded MS Express and took a quick glance at C#. It's my eventual goal to finish off my degree in CS with focusing on .NET. I really liked what I saw during my testing out phase. I just need to get some other stuff done and out of the way before I can start tackling it full force.