Python as replacement for PHP?

[SimonW]

Bruno Desthuilliers wrote:

> Bart Nessux wrote:
>
>> Erik Johnson wrote:
>>
>>> This is somewhat a NEWBIE question...
>>>
>>>     My company maintains a small RDBS driven website. We currently 
>>> generate
>>> HTML using PHP.  I've hacked a bit in Python, and generally think it 
>>> is a
>>> rather cool language. I've done Perl and like it, there are a few 
>>> features
>>> of PHP I like but overall am not too excited about it.
>>

I've found that the server pages paradigm, used by PHP and ASP, to be 
rather limiting when it comes to larger scale web applications. The 
paradigm also lends itself to creating spaghetti code (and sites). 
Python on the other hand, is quite capable of creating systems not bound 
by the convential server page paradigm. It also has powerful facilities 
for managing modules, classes and namespaces, which PHP lacks. These 
things help out tremendously when it comes to maintenance. Unless PHP 
has changed drastically in the last year or so, I believe these 
assertions to still be correct.

>>
>> When it comes to dynamic, DB driven sites, PHP is the only way to go. 
>> Python is not even close to being suited for this task.
>
I've been programming PHP for much longer than I have been using Python. 
After cleansing my mind of the server pages style architecture forced 
upon me by PHP, I re-found the fun I used to experience in web 
programming. Python is perfect for the job. I've found mod-python a bit 
of a chore, so I used twisted web for a while. I've now written my own 
server, specifically for handling a REST style architecture. It took me 
4 hours to write. It handles gzip encoding and basic authentication. 
This is not a testament to my ability, but to the fluidity and power of 
Python.

>> A serious business decision? PHP would be the only winner here. You 
>> should not even be considering another language for this, it borders 
>> on stupidity. 
>
You provide no qualification for this statement. Your admonition to 
"not  even" consider other languages than PHP is bad advice, and springs 
from your own stupidity and/or ignorance.


Regards,

Simon Wittber.