Language of computer hobbyists hits the big time

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Flexability of languages like PHP, in particular

Languages like PHP and Python are very flexible.
Beginners, writing small applications, can write
their PHP code in a simple, procedural manner.
Then, as they progress, and their applications
grow to the point where greater modularity will
be needed, they can start writing Object-Oriented
PHP.

Pure OOP believers will quibble at how much of a
"pure" OOP language PHP is, at this stage, of
course; but, in truth, it is these sorts of
arguments that run against OOP. You need a
Computer Science degree before you can fully
argue a case for pure OOP with anyone, and the
only people who will understand you, or care, are
other computer science graduates.

In general, companies don't employ computer
science graduates to write their mission-critical
code, since they don't actually want their data
center turned into some vast combined
"COBOL.NET/Eifel.NET pet hairball", by a pair of
semi-autistic mavericks, with Don Box hair, and a
funny kind of smell. In fact, the board don't
want to hear an argument AGAINST using a given
technology or language that is based upon the
fact that it doesn't have "static members",
"multiple inheritance" or "destructors". They
want to hear that they SHOULD adopt a given
technology because people who can actually DO it
are:
1. easy to come by
2. won't cost too much
3. will get the job done (with or without
destructors).
4. will develop their applications using software
that isn't liable to sudden lisensing changes or
support-withdrawals, and can be downloaded, for
free, off the internet, legally.

In short, most companies want to employ the kind
of people who do PHP-style coding: normal people:
the kind of people who can understand why Debbie
in reception doesn't particularly want an
interface that consists of twenty thousand
checkboxes in a hierarchical list.

So, the "rise of scripting technologies" on the
Web, is not actually news, here: Web development
has always traditionally been scripted. The real
story is the large-scale non-adoption of OOP in
Web development. This isn't just about ASP.NET,
either. JSP has been around for years, and it is
still only a minority technology, when seen in
terms of the Web as a whole.

Looking at it from a more technology-focused
standpoint, there is another reason for this, of
course. The biggest disadvantage of OOP on the
Web has always been that it tends to be slo-o-ow.
Objects, by their nature, contain redundant code.
Objects load into memory containing functionality
which will never be used during the lifetime of
that particular object-call.

In a desktop environment, this does not usually
cause problems, since there's only one user to
cope with, and the system's memory can handle the
rabid 'encapsulation' of even the most die-hard
OOP coder. On the web, however, it can prove
fatal (can we mention ASP's "Session" object
here, please?). Big objects begin to fail you
when the number of clients making requests, at
any one time, is an unknown quantity larger than
1, and where the actual SUCCESS of your system is
defined by HOW MUCH LARGER THAN 1 the figure is.
Better memory management and compiling in advance
can help, of course, but these in turn lead to
application servers that require a greater degree
of manual intervention and tweaking.

ASP.NET offers some of these advantages, of
course, (although it has become more and more
JSP-like, over the years, as Microsoft have
realised that, even when they DO insist on
designing their own wheel, it still has to be
round) but ASP.NET is a difficult technology for
a beginner to get started with - especially since
Windows XP Home Edition will do everything in its
power to PREVENT you installing IIS on it. As for
Mono, well, it's just so much easier to download
the Apache and PHP self-installers.

PHP is common,PHP is everywhere, PHP is easy to
install, and most hosting companies offer it as
standard. You can use it to build as simply, or
as complicatedly, as you wish, and it's fast.

Posted by: Dan_Walker   Posted on: 05/14/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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