Php or Perl for CGI?

[Ziggi]

Hi. I'm trying to learn how to implement CGI on my site, and would like to
know what are the advantages of using Perl over PHP, if any. Thanks in
advance.

Ziggi

[Andy Dingley]

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 15:38:44 +0100, "Ziggi" <on*******@hotmail.com>
wrote:

Hi. I'm trying to learn how to implement CGI on my site,
Don't. CGI is pretty much obsolete and mod_perl or similar is a more
modern (and desptie that, a better) way of doing it.
and would like to
know what are the advantages of using Perl over PHP, if any.

Biggest advantage is for people who already know one or the other.

Perl is useful for non-web tasks too.

PHP is somewhat easier to learn.

Perl has much better access to obscure aspects of filesystems. This
can get serious if you're dealing with complex multi-user systems or
huge storage arrays.

[Pham Nuwen]

Andy Dingley wrote:

Perl is useful for non-web tasks too.
So is PHP. I have written a whole host of command line tools, and
daemons with PHP. PHP may not be as obvious a choice but it stands up
VERY well.
PHP is somewhat easier to learn.
It is a much cleaner language IMHO.
Perl has much better access to obscure aspects of filesystems. This
can get serious if you're dealing with complex multi-user systems or
huge storage arrays.

I haven't found this, but that is probably my own bias.

--
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I ph***********@libertydice.org II No nation was ever ruined by I
I http://www.libertydice.org II trade, even seemingly the most I
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[Richard Watson]

Pham Nuwen <ph***********@libertydice.org> writes:

Andy Dingley wrote:

Perl is useful for non-web tasks too.

So is PHP. I have written a whole host of command line tools, and
daemons with PHP. PHP may not be as obvious a choice but it stands up
VERY well.

Indeed I've also used php for many more things than it was ever
intended for.

PHP is somewhat easier to learn.

It is a much cleaner language IMHO.

How are you defining "clean" here? PHP can be really ugly (and slow)
if you're not careful. By contrast Perl has at least had a stab at
modularity.

But this isn't a two horse race. Something like python is probably
cleaner than both and better suited to big tasks, whereas ruby can be
just as quick to learn and easy to write as php, and both have
associated apache modules.

The fact is that probably there is no wrong choice for the OP, he
should play with whatever takes his fancy.

--
Richard Watson
http://www.opencolo.com/
High Quality, Value for money colocation

[Nikolai Chuvakhin]

"Ziggi" <on*******@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:<bk**********@pegasus.csx.cam.ac.uk>...

I'm trying to learn how to implement CGI on my site, and would like
to know what are the advantages of using Perl over PHP, if any.

The only real advantage is your knowing Perl better than PHP. There
are very few things that can be done with Perl that can't be done
with PHP. Every once in a while, you come across a task for which
there is a readily available Perl script or module but no PHP. Perl
can be slightly faster (but not necessarily in your particular setup).
I have heard more than once that Perl has a steeper learning curve
than PHP (that is, learning Perl is more difficult, but after you
reach a certain level of proficiency, you become more productive).

In my opinion, these days, the choice of scripting language is largely
a matter of personal liking. Capabilities of various scripting
languages have converged quite a bit, and they will continue to do so.

Cheers,
NC

[Jim Ley]

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 19:53:36 +0100, "Richard Watson"
<ti********@doilywood.org.uk> wrote:

The fact is that probably there is no wrong choice for the OP, he
should play with whatever takes his fancy.

Certainly, and when she's bored of him, he can go back to programming
in any language he feels happy wtih.

Jim.