My comment was not meant to be demeaning, sorry if this was not clear. I used PHP 4 and it was okey, albeit pretty inconsistent. However, programming languages are a very competitive space. It is extremely expensive to keep them and their ecosystem alive. My sense is that, unless a language keeps up, it will go down. Not in the sense that it will disappear overnight, just less favoured every time a Greenfield project starts.
My subjective analysis is that each language has a niche that if fills nicely:
- C - no BS, no runtime, close to hardware.
- C++ - a bit further from the hardware, a bit closer to the developer.
- Python - glue the two above with few lines of code. Go-to language for "data pipelines".
- NodeJS - one code, can run both in the browser and on the server. Go-to language for web development.
- Java - one syntax, runs both on Android and on servers.
- C# and Go - vendor-evangelised languages. Supported by huge vendors and their network of partners.
- COBOL - too big to fail :))
I honestly don't get what niche PHP fills. Why would anyone choose PHP over another language? Developer pool? Ecosystem of libraries? Evangelized by a vendor? Front-runner in new concepts? Too big to fail?
My subjective analysis is that each language has a niche that if fills nicely: - C - no BS, no runtime, close to hardware. - C++ - a bit further from the hardware, a bit closer to the developer. - Python - glue the two above with few lines of code. Go-to language for "data pipelines". - NodeJS - one code, can run both in the browser and on the server. Go-to language for web development. - Java - one syntax, runs both on Android and on servers.
- C# and Go - vendor-evangelised languages. Supported by huge vendors and their network of partners. - COBOL - too big to fail :))
I honestly don't get what niche PHP fills. Why would anyone choose PHP over another language? Developer pool? Ecosystem of libraries? Evangelized by a vendor? Front-runner in new concepts? Too big to fail?