Well, the two are really different critters. It could be said that PHP is
more secure since it is open source, therefore flaws can, in theory, be
discovered (and hopefully patched) quicker. As for other discussion along
the lines of "CF is a better platform because it's easier to write in", it
really depends on your style of programming. If you're most comfortable
dealing with logical pseudo-extensions to an HTML-style programming system,
of course CF is for you. It's tag-based to ease the transition between
static HTML and dynamically-generated templates. PHP, OTOH, is very
reminiscent of Perl, so if your department is strong in Perl you'll love
PHP.
The down side of PHP is its fairly non-existant error handling capabilities
and lack of DB abstraction. You will have to be familiar with different
function sets to use different DBs. If you're a non-programmer, it is a bit
trickier to learn, since you'll have to work with creating file pointers and
whatnot on occasion. And PHP doesn't include Verity or any other nifty
toys, so you're on your own. On the plus side, PHP currently supports
user-defined functions, which makes for very structured, elegant code.
I haven't tried out PHP's session support, however, so I can't comment on
that. Chances are, though, that CF has a better implementation, though,
simply because CF has had session support longer.
Also, what web server/OS are you running? That's also a big part of the
picture, and arguably more important than the application server you're
using.
Jamie
(best tool for the job, et cetera, et cetera)
--
Jamie Keane
Programmer
SolutionMasters, Inc.
9111 Monroe Rd., Suite 100
Charlotte, NC 28270
www.solutionmasters.com
704.563.5559 x 228 Voice
704.849.9291 Fax
-----Original Message-----
From: Kelly Shepard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: CF-Talk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2000 1:04 PM
Subject: Another debate
>The new boss has arrived in my department and of course he wants everyone
to
>switch from the awesome and all mighty cold fusion to .... PHP. We do need
>some other strengths in our department for those clients who don't want us
>to host their application or don't have cf on their server, but, he wants a
>complete switch. Here is a glimpse into his last email:
>
>"It could be argued that both technologies have their strengths and
>weaknesses. However, in the corporate IT department, CF is usually not an
>option due to cost and security problems. I realize that changing
>perceptions and old habits are sometimes difficult, but necessary.
>Especially in our industry (high-tech).
>
>The need to deliberate the issue further is a mute point."
>
>Does anyone have any opinions on his security problems comment? It seems
>that alliare is pretty good about getting patches up - or we have just been
>lucky and not had any problems. And, would you agree that in the corporate
>IT department cf is "usually" not an option?
>
>Thanks in advance for any input.
>
>
>
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