This is true. They're still subpar options though. I mean if you have to use them because that's what your team knows and you don't have time to learn something else, fine. But if you're building a new team and hiring for those skills you're making a mistake.

They're fine, as good as anything else right now. PHP can be very high-performance, and MySQL/MariaDB, when run in the strict modes (usually enabled by default now) it's ACID-compliant, fast, and still easy to administer.

I was part of a team that launched recently on C# (.NET Core) and MariaDB, but if more of us were comfortable with PHP I'd have had all confidence that that'd have been just as good a platform.

I don't see how it's a mistake. What wouldn't be? node.js? Something ruby- or python-based?

Use Python or Go. Better thought out languages, comparable or better tooling, libraries, and performance. A while back I would add ruby to that list, but Python seems to have won the market over it.

So, again if it's what your team knows best, it's fine. Otherwise it's a mistake.

I would like to argue C# is a well thought out language with great tooling, libraries and performance (not C(++) performance, but do we really need that if we could iterate 10x faster?)

The type system being static with dynamic support and reflection enables me to think about real problems instead.

I used to dislike GC languages, but working with C# changed my mind. (not saying refcounted systems aren't nice, I'm following rust from a distance)

I like C#, no problem with it as a pick.

I don't believe dynamic languages deliver on faster iteration over the long haul. I used to be the biggest dynamic languages fan, but now I avoid them unless it's a small project.

PHP is a mess of a language that's been cleaned up somewhat well, but it's still at such a disadvantage.

I would never advise a company to use it for a new project unless they have lots of talent very familiar with it already.

It's just a mistake. You can disagree, but know that you're wrong ;)

When I was a full time C# dev (after doing ruby for years), I found that ReSharper turbocharged my productivity to the point where I was faster with C# than I ever was with Ruby.

But credit to ASP.NET Web API being so solid too.

Now that I almost exclusively code in Elixir, I'd love to try F#.