I have heard this argument a couple of times now. It basically boils down to, "PHP is too easy to use which means that non-programmers end up writing bad code and this hurts PHP". I find this argument not only stupid, but extremely offensive. PHP enables people to bring their ideas to life even if they know nothing, or very little, about programming. Stating that this somehow detracts from PHP is nuts! This is the ultimate success of PHP and the one thing I am most proud of.
Like the optometrist I met in Australia who had written a complete optometrist office management system in PHP. It handled all his patient records, stored retinal photos, handled billing, etc. This guy was an eye doctor, not a programmer. Obviously a bright guy, but as he explained to me, he really did not have time to work out how to use other "more complex" solutions. He could figure PHP out. And yes, looking at his code, there were a lot of problems, but the point is that he was able to use his unique knowledge to build a tool that solved his problem. Stating that the language should be obfuscated to not allow the eye doctor to build this application is absolutely insane. No "programmer" out there is going to know what requirements an optometrist has. You need people with specialized knoweledge to write specialized software. Providing a tool that broadens the size of the pool of specialists able to do this can only be a good thing. If all software was written by programmers we would only have Mandelbrot and prime number generators. -Rasmus On Mon, 3 Jun 2002, [iso-8859-1] Björn Schotte wrote: > Hi Jani, > > > Any examples? Is PHP too easy to use? :) > > I find that hard swallow. It's one of the main features > > why I am using PHP. > > Yep, but IMHO it's also one of its main 'bugs' in > the sense of lacking its image. > > Web designer, Photoshoppers and every "allrounder" > in small to mid-sized web companies gets an order > from his chief "Here you are, we have to do 'dynamic' > web sites. Make this with PHP." - although the photoshopper > doesn't know how to program at all. So we see questions > arising on the mailing lists and newsgroups regarding > "How do I print something on my web site with PHP?". And > because these people seem to be the majority in these > mailing lists (not only mailing lists especially for PHP > but for "internet working" in general), most suits and > other mailing list subscribers think "Oh what the hell, > PHP is only suitable for small applications like guest > books". > > Of course one can prove and promote the opposite by > providing advanced tutorials etc., but this is IMHO > like grist for the mill. I don't have a solution at > all and for now, but that's only what I could observe > in the last year(s). > > Regarding the roadmap: I think a "roadmap" like "Expect > new features A, B, C and D in the next three months stable > working" (as already mentioned) would be a great advance. > Something which canalizes the work. > > Just my 0,02 EUR, Björn. > > -- > PHP Development Mailing List <http://www.php.net/> > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > -- PHP Development Mailing List <http://www.php.net/> To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
