[newbie] Equivalent to PHP?

[Grant Edwards]

On 2012-06-13, Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info> wrote:
> On Tue, 12 Jun 2012 12:36:36 +0200, Gilles wrote:
>
>> I enjoy writing scripts in Python much more than PHP, but with so many
>> sites written in PHP, I need to know what major benefits there are in
>> choosing Python (or Ruby, ie. not PHP).
>
> The main benefit is that they are not PHP.
>
> http://me.veekun.com/blog/2012/04/09/php-a-fractal-of-bad-design/

I just started learning PHP about a week ago in order to do some work
on an embedded device's web site implementation my employer contracted
out.  I've done a fair bit of web stuff using CGI in shell, C, and
Python as well as server-side Javascript.  I've done a lot of normal
application programming in C and Python and have used a smattering of
other languages (Smalltalk, Scheme, Modula, FORTRAN, BASIC, assembly
for a variety of processors, and even Prolog).

I must say that I agree with the assessement of PHP linked above. 
It's not that the language has a design that's not to my taste -- it's
that it has no design at all.  It seems to be a mass of miscellaneous
bits and bobs from other languages that have accreted over the years
via some sort of random-walk process.

PHP seems to encourage (if not require) bad practices such as
returning values from functions via global or instance variables.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! !  I'm in a very
                                  at               clever and adorable INSANE
                              gmail.com            ASYLUM!!