On Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 1:36 AM, Nathan Rixham <nrix...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi All, > > I find myself wondering about the state of the PHP community (and related > community with a PHP focus), so, here's a bunch of questions - feel free to > answer none to all of them, on list or off, or add more of your own - this > isn't for anything specific, just out of interest and sure I (and everybody > who reads the replies) will learn something + doors/options/contacts may > come of it. The only thing I can guarantee is that I'm genuinely interested > in every reply and will read every one of them + lookup every tech and link > mentioned. > > in no particular order: > > What other languages and web techs do you currently use other than PHP? > - if you include html or css please include version, if js then preferred > libs, and whether client or server side. > CSS, Javascript (Jquery, mostly), SVG, F#, C#, Java, Clojure, Scala, C, Objective C, Groovy > > What's your previous language/tech trail? Started with C++ (I hate it!), then moved on to Java and then to PHP and then to the others. > Are you considering any new languages or techs, and if so which? > - names / links > Clojure is beautiful. Google Go is intriguing. Scala is sooo powerful (but worries me in terms of Perl's syntactic obfuscation.) However, PHP is practical and sufficient for most of my needs. I've moved away from Object Oriented Programming practices, and only use typical OOP practices/patterns when the conventions of a project dictate its use. As a programmer, I've fully embraced functional programming (and Aspect Oriented programming is neat, but I've not used it in a project, yet.) > Is PHP your hobby/interest, primary development language, just learning or? > I use PHP in a plurality of web projects I'm involved with. > How many years have you been using PHP regularly? > 6 > How many years have you been working with web technologies? > 7 > Did you come from a non-web programming background? > Grad school for cognitive psychology (long story) > Is your primary role web developer or designer? > Both (I'm a one-man shop) > > Do you tend to work on jobs for geo-local clients, clients in the same > country, or do you work internationally 'on the web'? > Local clients. > > How do you get your projects? do they come to you, word of mouth, do you > hunt and bid for projects, code call, visit clients, target clients > individually you think you can help, or? > - not looking for trade secrets, just to get enough for an overall picture. > Word of mouth most often. > > Do you have any frustrations with the PHP community, do you find you want > to talk shop but can't, or find people to work with but can't, have projects > in mind you want to do but can't find people to do them with etc? > I very much enjoy working with PHP, and I hope it's able to keep pace with the other language eco-systems out there. Like it or not, PHP is in stiff competition with many other languages, and while I thoroughly appreciate the community, I'm worried that the hype of other languages (Scala, etc.), the slow adoption of PHP 5.3, and the limited tools (at least relative to the other langauges) for using the NoSQL data persistence solutions (MongoDB, Cassandra, etc.) are restricting PHP's potential growth among the new crop of developers. I have no data to substantiate this worry, however, and the beautiful simplicity of PHP could still provide the impetus needed to stay competitive. > Are there any efforts, projects or initiatives which are floating your boat > right now and that your watching eagerly (or getting involved with)? > Brushing up on C skills so maybe I can try to create some extensions that facilitate functional programming approaches within PHP (currying, etc.) Adam -- Nephtali: PHP web framework that functions beautifully http://nephtaliproject.com
