PHP vs. Perl

Junior WebHelper Joined: 09 May 2002 Posts: 15

without being biased, please tell me the difference, which is more efficient, and which u prefer and why

4WebHelp Addict Joined: 07 Jan 2002 Posts: 1060

PHP -

1) More Efficent
2) More Reliable
3) Faster
4) Easier to Learn
5) No Internal Server Errors
6) Easier to configure Scripts.

Junior WebHelper Joined: 09 May 2002 Posts: 15

is perl more powerful than php? my friend described php as gay because its not powerful and that perl is the only real language

Team Member Joined: 06 Jan 2002 Posts: 2564

I'm not sure about the more powerful question. In what way?

PHP was meant for the web, Perl wasn't originally.

I must say that I prefer PHP, even though I discovered Perl first, because Perl can't be embeded in the HTML, and because it's a pain to debug.

Team Member Joined: 09 Jan 2002 Posts: 147 Location: UK

It depends what you want to use it for. PHP is basically a web scripting language, and is designed for rapid web development.

Perl is a general programming language with great text manipulation features, but a really variable syntax (there's no one true way to do something in Perl) and I've found it impossible to get to grips with properly, unlike PHP.

It's better to treat PHP as it's own class of language and compare Perl with Python, which is the language I'm currently learning (along with Actionscript/ECMAscript). Brilliant for building GUI... but web work is much harder in python than PHP.

HTH
Peter

Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2002 12:17 pm (21 years, 9 months ago)

as far as web programming goes: stick to php.

i learnt perl and did an enormous amount of coding, and then discovered the alternatives in php... which are so easy! For example, PHP has lots of built in functions that are dead handy for webpages (dates, sorting etc.) that you'd have to code for yourself in perl.

php retains all form elements without having to program routines to decode them as in perl

php is very easy to integrate with html.

mysql support is super in php and much *much* easier than in perl.

perl isn't just a web programming language, and as such, it can be daunting as it has so many paths and uses... so like I said, if you want to program webpages, use php.

another thing, there are a lot more people using php who seem happy enough to share help with coding, than strictly "web-only" perl programmers, in my hunts for support too...

amadeus

Junior WebHelper Joined: 26 Dec 2002 Posts: 5

what about in flat file database ?
which one is better.
does PHP support matching word ?
using this ~=

can php read a files in the directory ?
can php get visitor info such as IP. web browser type, operation system, ...... like perl do ?

I never use php before but i have used perl for some time

i about to learn PHP for my web page

Junior WebHelper Joined: 26 Dec 2002 Posts: 5

oh ya
one more thing
does php support pop mail retrieving ?

Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2002 11:27 am (21 years, 3 months ago)

tyj82 wrote:

does PHP support matching word ?
using this ~=

Supports regular expressions if thats what you mean.

tyj82 wrote:

can php read a files in the directory ?

Yes

tyj82 wrote:

can php get visitor info such as IP. web browser type, operation system, ...... like perl do ?

Yes

Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2002 5:10 am (21 years, 3 months ago)

tyj82 wrote:

one more thing
does php support pop mail retrieving ?

yeah.

You may think of PHP as Perl++ for the web related programming while Perl-- for traditional apps in which Perl is used.

Junior WebHelper Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 1

metsfan922 wrote:

without being biased, please tell me the difference, which is more efficient, and which u prefer and why

It's a religion question.

Like what is better Clipper or FoxPro some years ago.

Perl is more powerful but have some weak spot.

Perl is more language like one. PHP is modern one.

By the way we try to create the Perl based system wich is more simple when PHP... We can't make this thing on PHP... imho.

WebHelper Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 69 Location: Texas

Neither is better or worse than the other, they are just tools. Use the right tool for the job. Wink

I run a forum with phpBB software written in php (like this one). But I have batch (cron) jobs scheduled to run at specific times during the day. They're written in perl.

Could phpBB have been written completely in perl? Yes, it could.
Could my batch jobs have been written in php? Probably.

But it comes down to which is the best tool for the specific job. Without providing more details, there can be no "best" answer. And if you read through the previous answers in this topic, you'll see that folks say "For {this task} use {this tool}" which is exactly what I am saying. For certain types of tasks, one (or the other) will be better. But in my opinion, there is no clear "winner" for best overall.

My two cents. Not adjusted for inflation.

Dave

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2003 6:00 pm (21 years ago)

well said, dave