Kelly Hallman said: > I don't recall anyone ever advancing the notion that Smarty turned PHP > into something more than it was before. By definition it is merely a layer > that makes your life as a developer easier. A tool!
Yeah but in my ignorance that's what I thought, and I realized I probably was not alone. > However, those of us who are seeing great benefit from the use of Smarty > are not mere ignoramouses, and I feel that the implication being made is > that we're not seeing what PHP can already do. This is false. OK but I was an ignoramous and I believe there *are* others out there like myself. > The reason this is such a contentious issue, I think, is because the point > being made--while correct, and note-worthy--is short-changing Smarty by > calling it redundant. I feel that one's use of Smarty may indeed be > redundant, that's easy to do. However, Smarty is not inherently redundant. > Using Smarty redundantly does not make Smarty itself one bit redundant. I said it was mostly, not completely redundant. In the case of the cool built-in functions you've got some advantages. But I believe those could also be (perhaps more effectively) implimented with other libraries. It's just a tool. > To make that claim, you're dropping a pretty heavy dis on a lot of people > who have invested a great deal of time, effort, and subsequently realized > great benefits from Smarty and it's templating brethren. Not to mention > all those who have devoted great effort in the development of these tools. I believe it and most templating engines were written because many people didn't know they had an alternative. I could be wrong; if so, it is a "heavy dis." Didn't mean it that way, so if I am wrong I humbly apologize. > I'm seriously not trying to sound harsh here, but do you think that by > realizing you could structure your PHP code in such a way to mimic a basic > Smarty template, you've now single-handedly debunked the purpose for all > of this effort by so many avid PHP programmers? Seriously, now...! Naww... I'd been using Smarty for several weeks now because I thought the only alternative to spaghetti code was Smarty, but recently I realized that it's not, and that simple example shows it. I didn't realize I had another alternative. It's like this: "Does your mother know you're stupid?" Either way you answer, you're stupid. If you don't realize you have another alternative you're stuck. I believe Smarty was written because people didn't realize they had the other alternative. If I am wrong, see above. > Regardless of the merit of the point being made, I don't think that > benefits anyone much. I'm sure when some guy came up with a metal knife, > there was a dude there with a sharp rock saying, "but this works too!" > Then the guy with the knife started using it to cut everything, while the > rock required constant honing to remain sharp enough to do half the work. > But the guy with the rock thought it was all he needed! I use a knife. I see what you mean, but my point is PHP already *is* the knife: it templates with about the same effort as Smarty. At times less effort (in which case I'd use native PHP), at times more (in which case I'd use Smarty). Anyway, thanks for the input. /dev/idal -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
