On Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 3:01 AM, s.ross<[email protected]> wrote: > On Jun 8, 2009, at 11:37 PM, Zayd Connor wrote: > > Why are there more web design users using PHP instead of using Rails? Is > there an advantage using PHP over Rails? > > Thanks > > I'll restate the obligatory: PHP is a language; Ruby is a language; Rails is > a Web App framework. So...
However, they are very different kinds of language. PHP basically starts with HTML and adds syntax to add logic. Ruby starts as an object oriented programming language and adds library code to produce html and other stuff. Ruby provides powerful features to aid modularity and the implementation of domain specific language extensions which can be implemented just with Ruby code. A more direct comparison would be between PHP and erb, which embeds logic written in Ruby within HTML. Many people starting out may find that PHP is easier since you can start with HTML, and add a little UI logic, and a little database access right there. The problem is that, as your application grows, you can quickly end up with a complex beast which is hard to understand and maintain. I've seen too much PHP code which has reached this point, and I've turned down a few consulting gigs which would have involved living with that. It's possible to write nice modular maintainable PHP code. One good example, at least the last time I looked at it, is mediawiki which is the engine behind Wikipedia. But it takes a certain expertise to start out, and a lot of discipline to keep the code under control. The advantage of Rails is that you start out with a nice modular maintainable structure, and as long as you don't fight it, your code will stay in a "better place." -- Rick DeNatale Blog: http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/RickDeNatale WWR: http://www.workingwithrails.com/person/9021-rick-denatale LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdenatale --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
