Big Blue backs PHP for Web development

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Java and PHP both have their places...

Java and PHP both have places. IBM is wise to invest in a set of tools like PHP for doing web programming for small and medium size businesses.

It isn?t to say that PHP can?t be used to doing complex web development work. Because it can. Nor is it to say that Java can?t be used for doing simple dynamic web site development, because it can as well. But both patforms have strengths that turn into weaknesses for doing some tasks.

Java, or more specifically J2EE, is the platform of choice for doing any ?enterprise level? web development. The combination of using JSP pages with custom tags for the presentation, servlets as controllers, and Session Beans as business objects is both powerful, scaleable, and easy to maintain. That?s not even talking about features like JDBC, or interacting with queuing systems like WebSphere MQ. How can you do MVC with PHP? Java has Struts. I don?t see a common MVC framework for PHP. J2EE has a lot of features in its framework that is hard to beat by any other framework out there, let alone just using a scripting language like PHP. It?s not to say that you can?t do an enterprise application using PHP, it just becomes a lot harder to develop, and a lot harder to maintain. Last time I checked, PHP couldn?t access any queuing systems (though it?s easy to connect with a database).

PHP on the other hand does not have any complex deployment descriptors like JSP and servlets. There is no WAR files to deal with. Nothing to compile. Just write the script and put it on a server. Done deal. That?s great for doing small task. There is far less overhead with PHP than J2EE. You can do the same things with J2EE technologies like JSP and servlets, but it?s going to be more of a pain. For all the flexibility that J2EE offers, you pay for it with complexity. PHP does not have this weakness.

Like I said, PHP and J2EE both address separate needs. They CAN work together however. You can start off with applications that are written with PHP. Then as your need grows, you can start to offset PHP with J2EE. PHP can call Java Ojbects. So in theory, you can use a PHP page to call a EJB or some other Java class. So it?s possible to start off using the ease of use that PHP give you, then branch out to J2EE as your application becomes more complex in scope.

I wouldn?t be surprised to see IBM intergrate PHP into WSAD, or coming out with an express version of WSAD to target PHP developers. They already have an Express version of WebSphere, it just doesn?t have an EJB container! J

Posted by: morgande   Posted on: 02/28/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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