On Thu, Jul 24, 2003 at 08:24:58PM +0200, Patrick Marquetecken wrote: > Hi, > > I don't want to start a flame, but i'm wondering whats the best language to use with > apache. I don't know both and going to learn one. > I know that perl can be used "standalone" of php i don't know. > > All your thoughts are welcom.
Disclaimer: I'm a perl guy, but I'll try to be as fair as possible. Perl - Pros - is a more flexible language because it can be used standalone, and is used for far more things that just webstuff. (though I think that there is a php interpreter now) - lots of different perl-like embedded languages exist (embperl, mason, etc) - CPAN has a perl module written for just about any task you could imagine (check out Acme::pr0n) Perl - Cons - things like mod_perl aren't all that easy to set up for non-techies - not "designed" for the web per-se, but see above about embedded languages - has some cool OO and data structure hacks, though I know php5 has lots of new OO stuff, not sure how PHP deals with things like references and hashes though. PHP - Pros - designed for the web - easy to set up, no need to set up CGI directories - nice built in capabilities for DB connectivity, etc - php.net is a very useful page - has lots of nifty things like source() (produces a syntax highlighed version of the source of the page) and phpinfo() PHP - Cons - not really useful for non-webstuff like system admin, shell scripting, etc - is succepitable to security problems, not due so much to the language so much (any language can be insecure) but as to because people who aren't really programmers write it, they aren't as experienced at not allowing huge gaping security holes (see the many many many problems in something like phpnuke for details on this). I'm sure some of my facts about PHP are wrong or outdated, and I've missed tonnes of pros and cons on both sides, but there you go :) I think it might come down to if you're doing this for just web, or want to learn something that extends beyond and can be used for scripting and sysadminning. alan -- Alan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - http://arcterex.net -------------------------------------------------------------------- "There are only 3 real sports: bull-fighting, car racing and mountain climbing. All the others are mere games." -- Hemingway
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