Wed, 04 Oct 2006

Why PHP is bad

I sometimes end up in a conversation trying to explain to someone why PHP is a terrible language. This comment on Tim Bray's blog sums it up nicely. The crux:

Now look at the standard library that comes with PHP. There is no consistency whatsoever, and any units of functionality larger than a single function are a mess on the semantic level. The distribution of responsibilities is often peculiar. So just like I could never get my Tk-centric code into a reasonable shape, I never manage to get my PHP-standard-library-centric code into any reasonable shape either. The whole thing is a gigantic mass of hodge-podge quick&dirty hacks. As Larry Wall said, the PHP philosophy is I thought of a way to do it so it must be right.

posted at: 14:27 | permalink | comments