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Python vs. PHP (& Java?)

Thomas Wouters thomas at xs4all.net
Wed Dec 27 05:00:37 EST 2000 
On Tue, Dec 26, 2000 at 10:03:05PM -0800, Ben Ocean wrote:

> I’m an intermediate-level programmer that’s new to Python (via Zope) and I
> like it a lot. However, it appears to me that, while Python is a good
> replacement for Perl, it cannot replace much of the functionality of PHP,
> which can be scripted into HTML (whereas Python, it appears, must be
> called). So, I have to wonder about the speed of Python vs. PHP for
> Internet-based applications. Python has the advantage of byte-code and
> compilation, but it’s server-side. PHP might not be as fast on the server,
> but it doesn’t have to make as many trips back and forth between server
> and client. Plus, I’m curious as to why Python wasn’t written in such a
> way that it could be written directly into HTML documents like PHP.

You don't need roundtrips with Python either, you just need to start it as a
CGI script (which is some additional overhead, granted.) And note that there
are several extentions (PSP, ASP and if-I-recall-correctly mod_snake for
apache, and Zope's DTML) that allow embedding Python into HTML.

As for why Python isn't PHP, well, because it isn't. Python is a fair bit
older than PHP, and simply wasn't intended as an 'html-embedded-language'.
It was intended as a proper, easy to learn, easy to read, efficient (from
the programmers view) language, and not as a quick-and-dirty-hack to allow
code inbetween HTML :) The WWW and HTML did exist, but were only just
starting, when Python emerged.

And then there's two other points. I do a reasonable amount of PHP, and I
think it sucks :) I don't see a terribly good reason to mix HTML and script
code, for one. It looks sexy but there isn't a real advantage, and it only
serves to clutter the code, IMHO. And besides that I've been bitten by
irregularities in PHP code way too often, like how you can pass environment
variables to the html page which end up variables inside the script --
that's been the cause of several huge security issues for me. So even if you
really want to embed code into HTML, I'd go for Python (or even Perl!)
rather than PHP.

> On a similar subject, someone once informed me that Java was by far the
> best language for scripting communication programs over the Internet (like
> chat, IRC, etc.). How does Python compare? Your comments are appreciated.

Well, not suprising (since this is a Python newsgroup/list, not a Java one)
I don't agree. Python is easier to write and easier to read (and
understand), and way easier to learn. Python is (supposedly :) slower than
Java in execution, but especially in networked environments, where you spend
most of your time waiting for the network anyway, you aren't going to notice
that.

And besides, Python is so easy, you can learn it pretty quickly (in a few
hours if you're already a somewhat-experienced programmer) and I doubt
you'll ever regret it. If anything, it'll be a good programming learning
experience. And it's just a fraction of the time you'll spend learning Java
:)

-- 
Thomas Wouters <thomas at xs4all.net>

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