Re: [PHP] php developing as a language From: Alex Black (enigma <email protected>)
Date: 12/28/00

hi jeremy,

ok, one side of the argument, the one I first considered:
-----------

given that php was designed _specifically_ for developing web applications,
i.e. an environment where php is related to (either compiled into or as a
module) to a webserver: how is the licensing scheme a problem.

correct, if you wanted to embed some PHP app in a portable device (like an
mp3 jukebox) you couldn't do it: but why would you want to?

let me preface what I'm about to say with: I'm no a c hacker, but:
as far as I understand, PHP is actually pretty lax about a lot of things, in
the interest of speed & ease of use, that's because it is interpreted by the
engine, which takes care of memory management and other messy stuff for you.

i.e. if you want to do something like an mp3 jukebox (software that runs a
small, sub-pc device), it should be coded in C, but if you want to build a
web app, use PHP.

I've seen some shell scripts, etc done in PHP, but to be honest I don't even
see it taking over perl in that category: PHP is _so_fanastic_ at what is
was designed for: web apps, but obviously isn't for everything.

=============
the other side of that:

It would _rule_ if I could compile binarycloud and distribute it as a set of
little binary apps. It would be 100x faster, and easier to keep track of
everything because there would be fewer files.

I would love to use binaries instead of interpreted scripts in my
installations.

so, instead of "encoder" which zend is working on right now, I'd like to
see: compiler. booyah :)

_a 

--
Alex Black, Head Monkey
enigma <email protected>

The Turing Studio, Inc.
http://www.turingstudio.com

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> From: jeremy <email protected> (jeremy brand)
> Newsgroups: php.general
> Date: 28 Dec 2000 11:17:46 -0800
> Subject: [PHP] php developing as a language
> 
> Hello all.
> 
> I was just thinking about how PHP has evolved and how it is turning
> into such a wonderful language.
> 
> Much of the comparison I'm doing in my head is to C.
> 
> I raised some concernes with myself that maybe someone can address.
> 
> To use a program that a friend of mine wrote as an example.  What it
> does is it is basically a mp3 jukebox program written entierly in C.
> It is all command line and has an API which would make it the perfect
> backend for any type of UI.
> 
> Since I'm not the C coder that he is, I was thinking about just for
> fun to emulate his API.  I'm sure I can do everything that he does in
> C with PHP.  However, here is where it goes bad.
> 
> The effort he spent writing code was well spent.  What I just
> realized is that with my interpretation of ZENDs licensing, I can't
> take my hard work and make it into an embeded device or the such
> because it is PHP code, it would need an interpreter.  Thus, AFAIK,
> you can't freely include an interperter if you plan on making money.
> 
> So, I came to the conclusion that if PHP is going to grow beyond it's
> bounds (as it does have the potentential to do because it is so
> wonderful) we really need something that can make machine code out of
> our programs, thus bypassing the licensing of ZEND.
> 
> I would love to see PHP continue to grow as a language as C has over
> the years, but I see this licensing as a major distraction.
> 
> I've been gung ho over PHP for over 2 years now.  Now I'm having
> doubts that maybe it is about time that it needs to grow freely
> outside of any one company's control.  I didn't feel this stress with
> PHP3, but the new license is making me second think everything.  I
> think that the potential to destroy PHP's chance at greatness is just
> around the corner unless we can free it up more.
> 
> Jeremy
> 
> 
> Jeremy Brand :: Sr. Software Engineer :: 408-245-9058 :: jeremy <email protected>
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