Python as replacement for PHP?

[Paul Boddie]

Paul Rubin <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> wrote in message news:<7xad2x5wfm.fsf at ruckus.brouhaha.com>...
> dw-google.com at botanicus.net (David M. Wilson) writes:
> > Like everyone else who has replied, I seriously question how much
> > experience you have with the multitude of Python web environments
> > available.
> 
> The very existence of a "multitude" of Python web environments is a
> serious shortcoming of Python as a PHP replacement.

As a PHP replacement, I'd argue that a number of existing frameworks
are good and obvious enough - cue developer adverts for Spyce,
CherryPy, etc. ;-) With the PSP support in mod_python, I'd argue that
the bar has been lowered further. But in the short to medium term,
expect better application portability between frameworks - the need to
run various popular applications in different environments is making
itself increasingly evident.

[...]

> > We could bring the PHP ADODB, or many of the other numerous PHP APIs
> > for DB connectivity into the picture, but which of these are the
> > obvious choice, and officially endorsed?
> 
> That's precisely the situation Python is in now!

Really? At the fundamental level, the DB-API is pretty well
standardised, and there's a collection of well-written modules that
mostly adhere to it. Object-relational mappings aren't standardised,
but I haven't seen any widely-followed standards implemented in any
technology.

[...]

> The site that I worked on spent TWO MILLION U.S. DOLLARS on its web
> server hardware.  OK, it used Java servlets that are even slower than
> Python, but you have to understand that there's a point after which
> you can no longer pretend that hardware is free.

Yes, but then those responsible for religiously stipulating "full fat"
application/database server technologies tend to have big budgets
anyway. There's a point after which you could be horrified about the
money being spent on hardware, but hopefully it isn't your budget
draining away at that point.

Paul