OT: Future of PHP - LAMP Based Web Site Technology

[Brian Yennie]

Sivakatirswami,

FWIW, Flickr actually *is* written in PHP. They just use browser  
friendly URLs (which are easily configured with Apache to hide things  
like ".php" extensions). Cal Henderson, the original lead developer,  
actually wrote a great book: Building Scalable Web Sites (The Flickr  
Way) which uses PHP throughout.

Facebook is also written in PHP, and many other large sites. I think  
you'll find that the language has a huge installed base and will be  
around quite some time.

With that said, I would focus on what people with similar needs to  
your are using - and don't assume that you can tell just by visiting  
their site. If you can't tell what they are using, there is a decent  
chance it's PHP!

In regards to your html snippet, I would just say that using PHP  
doesn't mean that you have to run *everything* through PHP. You can  
most certainly supply links to static content. For example, there is  
no reason per se to have your privacy policy coming from a PHP file-  
it might as well just be privacy.html. If you use an off-the-shelf  
CMS solution, you may find that everything gets tunneled through PHP  
scripts, but even that is not so bad -- the performance is quite good  
if properly configured (and/or if you aren't taking on a huge amount  
of traffic). Either which way, I wouldn't find the snippet you posted  
alarming - it all really depends on your needs and what kind of data  
you are going to be displaying on those pages.

Hope that helps and feel free to contact me off-list if you have  
specific PHP questions that I might be able to help you with.

> This is a super blue sky query for comment:
>
> We're interested in possibly outsourcing some web dev. In response  
> to any RFP we might issue
> we will no doubt get a number of developers using LAMP. I already  
> have one handy.
>
> All his web sites are *.php based  (and table based) zero  
> javascript or AJAX.
>
> We are wondering about the future of putting a huge amount of data
> into a PHP based web "container"
>
> Anyone have any comments? PHP is alive and well and moving forward...
> It is the basis for our wiki (PMwiki)
>
> On the other hand I don't see any in use in many progressive "Web  
> 2.0" sites.
> Not a single page at www.apple.com  google or Flickr uses PHP.
>
> If we were, e.g. to take "www.hinduismtoday.com" from it current  
> "retro" state
> (very much in need of a make over) to a new future, I'm concerned that
> pouring all that content into LAMP, could throttle any movement  
> forward after that...
>
> Our content is a perfect candidate from offering API's for mashups.
> And our "mission statement" would definitely involve taking the  
> wrapper
> off the data and making it available.
>
> This kind of code (below) makes me nervous... but I don't know if  
> my gut feeling
> is simply based on ignorance of the unknown, or if it is a valid  
> intuition that
> if we went this direction we would be hobbling our future:
>
> # every single dynamic element involves kicking the PHP can...
>
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> Insights anyone? This is a "no holds barred" discussion: tell it  
> like you see it.
> if it is felt this should not be exposed on the list, email me off  
> list...
> up to you. Though I suspect it would interest many here...
>
> TIA:
>
> Looking for the Big Picture
> on Future Web Dev
>
> Sivakatirswami
>
>
>
>
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---
Brian Yennie
QLD Learning