modperl_vs_php

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Subject: mod_eprl or PHP
From: Denton River <denton_ri@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 08:22:17 -0700 (PDT)

HI list,

My company is using mod_perl right now and i like it
alot, but now are they wanting us to start develop in
PHP i really like to stay mod_perl, so i am askin you
for some help,

I would really like to have something to say to my
boss,
like this is why i want to use mod_perl instedd of PHP
so my question is "Why should i use mod_perl insted of
PHP.

Denton

ps. we are workin alot with XML.

===

Subject: Re: mod_eprl or PHP
From: Matt Sergeant <matt@sergeant.org>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 17:09:03 +0100 (BST)

On Wed, 26 Jul 2000, Denton River wrote:

> HI list,
> 
> My company is using mod_perl right now and i like it
> alot, but now are they wanting us to start develop in
> PHP i really like to stay mod_perl, so i am askin you
> for some help,
> 
> I would really like to have something to say to my
> boss,
> like this is why i want to use mod_perl instedd of PHP
> so my question is "Why should i use mod_perl insted of
> PHP.
> 
> Denton
> 
> ps. we are workin alot with XML.

Well then mod_perl (well, Perl) has much more extensive XML support right
now compared to PHP. I was talking to Rael Dornfest yesterday, and he's
moving back to Perl development after developing PHP's most significant
XML project (meerkat) because of the tools available under perl.

===

Subject: Re: mod_eprl or PHP
From: "Erich L. Markert" <emarkert@pace.edu>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 12:40:44 -0400

This is also comparing apples and oranges since PHP requires mod_perl...

A better comparison would be HTMLEmbperl vs. PHP

Or mod_perl vs. java server pages, ASP, etc...

===

Subject: Re: mod_eprl or PHP
From: jbodnar@team-linux.com
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 11:46:02 -0500 (CDT)

PHP does not require mod_perl. They are completely seperate (and often do not
like each other when loaded as DSOs).

===

Subject: RE: mod_eprl or PHP
From: Jerrad Pierce <Jerrad.Pierce@networkengines.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 12:43:32 -0400

With all due respect, what the hell are you smoking?
PHP is an ENTIRELY different beast from perl, or mod_perl.

http://php.net has absolutely nothing to do with Larry Wall

===

Subject: Re: mod_eprl or PHP
From: Rob Tanner <rtanner@onlinemac.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 10:04:25 -0700

On Wednesday, July 26, 2000 8:22 AM -0700 Denton River 
<denton_ri@yahoo.com> wrote:

> HI list,
>
> My company is using mod_perl right now and i like it
> alot, but now are they wanting us to start develop in
> PHP i really like to stay mod_perl, so i am askin you
> for some help,
>

That's not a simple question, and you haven't really said what kinds of 
applications you're using mod-perl for.  In a nutshell, mod-perl is a much 
more complex tool than PHP, but it also enables you to do much more complex 
tasks.  PHP works at the Apache response phase, mod-perl gives you access 
to all the request phases.  PHP a powerfull, but still limited tool. 
Mod-perl gives you full access to perl and to any and all existing perl 
packages (anything on CPAN or anywhere else).

Both packages have their place, and I use both.  If the kinds of web 
applications you develop clearly fit into one camp or the other, than use 
one or the other exclusively.  But if it's a mixed bag, use the tool most 
appropriate to the application.  Also, for basic dynamic page generation, 
learning and using PHP is a simpler task than learning and using mod-perl. 
That's real important to keep in mind when hiring developers who may have 
no experience with either tool -- and "OH MY!!" may not even know perl -- 
shutter to think.  ;-).


> I would really like to have something to say to my
> boss,
> like this is why i want to use mod_perl instedd of PHP
> so my question is "Why should i use mod_perl insted of
> PHP.
>
> Denton
>
> ps. we are workin alot with XML.
>

I'm not sure if there are XML parsers available for PHP or not.  If not, 
that would certainly make a difference in what tool to use.

===

Subject: Re: mod_eprl or PHP
From: JoshNarins@aol.com
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 13:09:39 EDT

The great thing about mod_perl is that you can, with just a little
training in some common traps (global variables), turn a perl programmer
into a mod_perl programmer.

To turn someone into a PHP programmer you have to teach them the perl-like
PHP syntax.

PHP is popular. If you are drowning in PHP applicants, I say go for it.

But since you say you are already a mod_perl shop, it sounds like you 
are trading in one of the most powerful apache tools in for a way to 
embed code in your HTML.

There are MANY ways to make a PHP like mod_perl environment.
HTML::Mason (www.masonhq.com), Embperl or you could just have mod_perl
support PHP itself with mod_php. As Jason Bodnar noted, they do not
like playing with each other as DSOs.

If my perceptions are misplaced about PHP, please feel free to correct me.

===

Subject: Re: mod_eprl or PHP
From: martin langhoff <martin@scim.net>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 14:48:41 -0300

Matt Sergeant wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 26 Jul 2000 jbodnar@team-linux.com wrote:
> 
> > PHP does not require mod_perl. They are completely seperate (and often do not
> > like each other when loaded as DSOs).
> 
> Has anyone figured out why that is yet?

	wasn't it related to conflicting mysql or dbi libraries? i've seen a
few threads that achieved some kind of success disabling PHP's mysql
libraries. 

	of course, it's all overheard, so i may well be wrong



===

Subject: Re: mod_eprl or PHP
From: Matt Sergeant <matt@sergeant.org>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 19:03:26 +0100 (BST)

On Wed, 26 Jul 2000, Erich L. Markert wrote:

> Obviously not the same stuff as you ;-)
> 
> You missed my point, even though you reiterated it in your statement...
> 
> How can you make a valid comparison between mod_perl against PHP?  You
> can't because they are different beasts and serve different purposes. 
> That's why I said it would be more valid to compare JSP against mod_perl
> - similar technologies.

Actually the only similar techs to mod_perl are: mod_snake (python
equivalent to mod_perl, very new though), mod_java (java equivalent,
doesn't even run yet AFAIK), the Apache C API, the microsoft internet
server API (ISAPI), and the netscape server API (NSAPI). There are
probably a few others that I've missed, for other web servers, but that's
pretty much it as far as technologies similar to mod_perl. In short: most
other tecnologies are web page API's, whereas mod_perl and its kin are web
server API's.

A common misconception though.

===

Subject: Re: mod_eprl or PHP
From: Matt Sergeant <matt@sergeant.org>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 19:08:33 +0100 (BST)

On Wed, 26 Jul 2000, martin langhoff wrote:

> Matt Sergeant wrote:
> > 
> > On Wed, 26 Jul 2000 jbodnar@team-linux.com wrote:
> > 
> > > PHP does not require mod_perl. They are completely seperate (and often do not
> > > like each other when loaded as DSOs).
> > 
> > Has anyone figured out why that is yet?
> 
> 	wasn't it related to conflicting mysql or dbi libraries? i've seen a
> few threads that achieved some kind of success disabling PHP's mysql
> libraries. 
> 
> 	of course, it's all overheard, so i may well be wrong

Hmm... could be just that - exactly the same problem as the expat issue...

===

Subject: Re: mod_perl or PHP
From: Denton River <denton_ri@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 12:50:01 -0700 (PDT)

OK,, Thanks for all the answers.

I think i have something to go on now.
we are not changing to get it easier to hire people,,
so i guess there is no ide to switch to something less
powerfull ;) i

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