Jump to content

Will PHP ever be a compiled language?


luke101

Recommended Posts

While surfing the internet I came across this article. It made me doubt the future of PHP comapred to other programming languages. Can you guys read this article and tell me what you think. I am also a novice programmer and currently looking for a language to program my next project and I am stuck between PHP, .NET and JSP.

http://petesbloggerama.blogspot.com/2006/12/aspnet-20-vs-php-etc.html

this is the article. I have also read in some books that 67% of the internet is programmed in PHP. But is this due to the fact that it is free?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that a large reason many people begin with PHP, and why many companies and institutions are using PHP [b]is[/b] the fact that it's free. However, I don't think PHP will be going anywhere for a while. Simply the fact that a language is compiled does not make it better. It makes it better for [i]certain things[/i], mind you, but when it comes to basic web application programming, there are strengths and weaknesses to each of the languages you mentioned. I do believe that PHP is the easiest of those mentioned to get a handle on. I have to work with JSP here at my job, and while it is much more powerful at a base level, it is way overkill for most of what I'm doing.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with taith, and I think one of his observations may be the answer to your question:

[quote]
I have also read in some books that 67% of the internet is programmed in PHP. But is this due to the fact that it is free?
[/quote]

IMO the reason so many people use PHP is its ease of use.  One with no programming experience can d/l XAMMP, follow a PHP tutorial and have a database driven dynamic site up in a matter of hours.  The same can't be said for Java-JSP (which is also free).  Anyone who has ever set up a Tomcat server and deployed a Java Webapp can confirm that to a beginner the process can be quite daunting.  Not to mention the fact that Java itself requires one to understand fairly advanced OO concepts such as inheritance, polymorphism, abstraction, etc...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The newer php6 will be offering a new feature which works simular to Python. The first time you run your script a file will be created storing all the opcode (machine readable code) for that script, the next time you run your script it will be parsed directly from the opcode file.

Currently php builds and then distroys the opcode internally, keeping this opcode in a file should make php quite a bit faster.

As for compiling php? What it has to do with php longgevity is behond me. Non compiled languages are becoming more and more popular in many different fields, just because a language is compiled doesn't make it any better. There are fors and againsts on both sides.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is more than a year old. Please don't revive it unless you have something important to add.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.