Learn PHP or Perl?

[abdul]

.

[filburt1]

PHP, Perl is old and slow

[MrPolite]

Why not ASP.NET? isnt that suppose to be better than all of those? (I mean the .NET version only, not the old crap)

[abdul]

Originally posted by MrPolite
Why not ASP.NET? isnt that suppose to be better than all of those? (I mean the .NET version only, not the old crap)

Well, MS might release a completely changed version of ASP with only changed variables/functions and other stuff but its functionality would be similar to the old version. So I think it's a good idea to first learn PHP or any other open source scripting language that, at least, keeps its syntax same.
I am also learning ADO .NET with ASP .NET but it's like only one topic a day.

[filburt1]

ASP.NET is also much less commonly supported by hosts and therefore might cost more, whereas virtually every host has PHP and MySQL. Of course doesn't hurt to learn either...Karl is making good use of ASP.NET in fact...

[Iamryan2002]

Perl isn't too old... it is actually more fun and challenging to use

I made the stupid mistake to learn Perl before PHP... so PHP is newbie friendly... and Perl is also fun, a challenge though

[MrPolite]

Originally posted by abdul


Well, MS might release a completely changed version of ASP with only changed variables/functions and other stuff but its functionality would be similar to the old version. So I think it's a good idea to first learn PHP or any other open source scripting language that, at least, keeps its syntax same.
I am also learning ADO .NET with ASP .NET but it's like only one topic a day.

well!! ASP.NET is considered to be the most important part of the .NET technologies, that's why it's a biggy. Also, it has a much better performance as I've heard, it's not just new functions and stuff. And the good thing about it is that you can make ASP pages with VB or C# code. No more VBScript crap (they still supposrt Javascript though)

[Gimlin]

ASP is ****, PHP rules.

[Iamryan2002]

lol....

[Kagey]

i didnt think perl was that slow. just depends on how you use it and what you use it for. same with most languages.

[Iamryan2002]

I prefer Perl for scripts that work with file writing, and reading... it is plain easier....

[Kagey]

YEAH exactly, correct me if im wrong, but isnt filesystem stuff one of the main reasons why perl was created?

[Iamryan2002]

I believe so, I think it main reason for form processing, when info was stored in files, before any big databases were around...

It does it job well

[MrPolite]

umm why PHP and not ASP.NET?

[Kagey]

again: its free, there are huge communities and their support, the sytax is relativly easy to learn, and it is widely supported by servers.

[The Hobo]

My few opinions:

I learned Perl first. Then a few years later went to PHP. They are really similiar, so if you learn one, you'll pick up the other in a snap. I would probably suggest PHP since I love it more than my girlfriend.

I find PHP easier to use with files than Perl, so I have to disagree with you on that. I find the PHP functions much easier. If you just want to open a file, it's as easy as "$var = file("file.name");" Where in Perl, you'd have to open it, read it to a variable, then close it.

I'd pick PHP over ASP as well, just because I find it better (personal preference) and it's MySQL implimentation is much better than ASP and Perls.

So I guess it all decides on what you want to do. But I do think PHP is much more well rounded to suite whatever you want to do. So if you don't know, I'd say learn PHP.

Just my 2.5 cents.

[The Hobo]

Originally posted by Kagey
again: its free, there are huge communities and their support, the sytax is relativly easy to learn, and it is widely supported by servers.

Ditto on that. I don't know about ASP, but Linux, Apache, and PHP are all free.

Windows NT (2000, XP, etc) = not free. IIS = not free (right?), and ASP = not free. I think.

Blue = Edited

[Kagey]

If by ISS you mean IIS, technically its not free. it comes with win 2k server and xp pro, but you have to buy those, so you are paying for IIS too. I'm not hip to the ASP.NET groove, but i assume that it doesnt ship with the newest IIS version and you have to pay for it. i could be wrong though.

[cpradio]

Honestly you should not be asking which is better PHP or Perl but rather a question along the lines of "What will be of more use to learn now so I can get into Application Programming, or the newer Technologies to come?"

If you take a look at that question it will give you a pretty definite answer. C and C++ are the two Application Languages used for creating and manipulating Windows (not to mention Microsoft Windows is made in C++) and have very similiar syntax as PHP (considering PHP is based on Perl, C, and C++).

PHP provides you a way of manipulating Images, PDF Files, HTTP Authenication, Create, Modify, Delete Files, Interact with MySQL, SQL, Postgre, Access, ... Databases, along with Simple syntax (such as having to have a ; at the end of every line of code), Many resources available that are free, Hundreds of Books that will help out a newbie and some will even be appreciated by Experts.

I was going to start with Perl and found it confusing as I had to use a $ for one variable, an @ for another, and so on. That is too much taught into variables.

In PHP you only have to use 1 symbol and that is the $. You never have to define whether a variable is an int, char, string, etc as PHP will convert it based on what you tend to do with that variables information.

As for ASP, I find that the most useless programming language, not to mention uneffecient (like VB). Its just a bunch of BS that MS threw out there to try and stay in the competition on Web Development. The only reason people use it is they are fond of MS and they probably have a contract with MS for their servers and whatnot that probably are required to run strictly ASP.

PHP is free, fast, easy to pick up if you have zero knowledge in programming and even easier if you have some knowledge in either C, C++, Perl, or JavaScript.

Well, thats my 2 cents
-Matt

[JoshT]

Originally posted by cpradio

As for ASP, I find that the most useless programming language, not to mention uneffecient (like VB). Its just a bunch of BS that MS threw out there to try and stay in the competition on Web Development. The only reason people use it is they are fond of MS and they probably have a contract with MS for their servers and whatnot that probably are required to run strictly ASP.

ASP is not a programming language. You can use Perl in ASP - I do it all the time, as its faster and more capable than VBScript. Please don't confuse the inadequacies of VBScript with ASP as a whole.

And there is no reason Perl, PHP, ASP, and a bunch of other stuff cannot all be on the same server, and then you just pick what's best for the job. ASP.Net is a free download, you don't have to pay for it, you just need to a Windows Server box with IIS, which costs money, but honestly, from a business standpoint, the cost difference between it and the free stuff isn't that significant.

And there's probably a better way to do web application development that ASP, Perl, or PHP. Everything is too much based on a page by page basis.

[Iamryan2002]

Originally posted by The Hobo
I find the PHP functions much easier. If you just want to open a file, it's as easy as "$var = file("file.name");" Where in Perl, you'd have to open it, read it to a variable, then close it.

Well, I find PHP's File Handles a bit nerving... however Perls is straight forward and quite efficient...

[Kagey]

Originally posted by JoshT

And there's probably a better way to do web application development that ASP, Perl, or PHP. Everything is too much based on a page by page basis.

JSP and servlets seem to be emerging in that area. (maybe with a little SOAP thrown in for fun)

[The Hobo]

Originally posted by Iamryan2002


Well, I find PHP's File Handles a bit nerving... however Perls is straight forward and quite efficient...

They're basically the same...? Perl's file handling isn't any more efficeint than PHP's.

[chrisjk]

Originally posted by Iamryan2002
I made the stupid mistake to learn Perl before PHP... so PHP is newbie friendly...

I did that too

I found PHP takes all the cool bits of Perl and makes some of the more tedious bits better, which is definately good. Plus it was developed for web based apps from the start really whereas Perl just happened to fit that purpose fairly well

[JafferAB]

PHP over Perl - PHP is easier, newbie freinds and more powerful than Perl... and its still growing and has a massive community...

Perl Over ASP - ASP is microsoft, there is little support for it, it aint too powerful, linux users will have a harder time getting support for it.

PHP over ASP - see PHP over Perl

[JoshT]

PHP over Perl - PHP is easier, newbie freinds and more powerful than Perl... and its still growing and has a massive community...

Newbie friendly is not necessarily a good thing, and Perl is still much more powerful than PHP, IMHO.

Perl Over ASP - ASP is microsoft, there is little support for it, it aint too powerful, linux users will have a harder time getting support for it.

??? You can use Perl within ASP to do almost anything Perl can do and lots that VBScript can't (Network stuff, API calls, etc), although you really don't need ASP if you're not gonna use COM objects. Perl has most stuff VBscript needs COM for already available with the modules that come with the language. PHP is like that too. And if you have $$$ you can get more support from MS than open source products.

While I'll agree that PHP or Perl is better than ASP for a lot of stuff, ASP has easy ADO access and the choice of languages. Please don't knock ASP for what it isn't or mistake it with VBScript - knock ASP for things that are actually ASP - COM overhead, objects that are good ideas but not feasible to use, OS dependency, etc.