[newbie] Equivalent to PHP?

[Christian Heimes]

Am 12.06.2012 11:39, schrieb Gilles:
> I notice that Python-based solutions are usually built as long-running
> processes with their own web server (or can run in the back with eg.
> Nginx and be reached through eg. FastCGI/WSGI ) while PHP is simply a
> language to write scripts and requires a web server (short running
> processes).

A long running process has lots of benefits that makes design and
development easier and makes your app faster.

* Don't underestimate the costs of process creation. It doesn't scale
unless you fork() childs which is more complex and still doesn't scale
as well as a long running process.

* you can do all costly and time consuming operations on startup like
loading all configuration files and databases like i18n stuff.

* performance tweaks like database connection pool works only with a
long running process.

* in-process caching is usually easier to implement and faster. In some
cases only in-process works.

* you can have background tasks without the requirement of an outside
service like cron + wget.

* async server based on a select()-like reactor are only possible when a
single process handles the incoming connections.


A long running process is more powerful and the 'enterprise' way of
doing it right. All important and large scale Python and Java solutions
are using long running processes instead of a CGI-like model.

PHP's way is a poor man's solution to compensate for bad design and
memory holes. PHP's ancestor PHTML still bleeds through and makes you
suffer for mistakes of the past.

Christian