I still love PHP and JavaScript

Re:I still love PHP and JavaScript by cm2187 on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @09:48AM (#32331622)

The issue I have with php, having started building websites in the early 2000s with it, is that it is a language that doesn’t push you to write better code and progress. I am much more of a fan of static langages where the IDE guides you a lot more, gives you live feedback so that being curious is cheap, you don’t have to dive into some documentation to know what the other methods, parameters and overloads are, you can refactor code safely and effortlessly.

So I am sure some professionals write brillant code in php, particularly in large organisations, but my guess is that the median code base quality out there is probably pretty lousy. Anything below the 80th percentile probably too.

Also it’s for websites only.

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Re:I still love PHP and JavaScript by larve on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @09:52AM (#32331658)

I think PHPStorm has been very helpful as an IDE for over a decade.

One of the things I do like about PHP is that while most legacy codebases out there are lousy (even when good developers are involved), and often lousy for totally legitimate reasons, PHP with its "don't even try to do clever" approach makes many things easier.

Of course, I only dealt with so many legacy applications. My worst experiences have always been with python legacy code because there were strata of conflicting "better code" approaches piled on top of each other.

Once you start abstracting into patterns, and you don't have the experience needed to get a sense of good architecture, it's easy to make a real tangled mess.

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