[ale] OT: Why Big Sites Run Drupal

[mike at trausch.us]

On 05/06/2012 04:18 PM, Michael H. Warfield wrote:
> You assume that there is a way to discriminate this and you assume that
> the state in the past and it's history is reflective of its current
> state.  Neither can be unambiguously substantiated or supported.

I understand what you're saying here.

I do assume (and it seems to even be happening) that eventually, things
will become more stable and secure, with the exception of the issues
which stem from its design (and are indeed application issues, albeit
excessively common ones).  And I'm not opposed to using it for something
that is very small and simple.  For example, a program á la Freecheck
would make sense in PHP, because that is a simple application that can
very easily make use of PHP's design.  A single script can handle the
processing of POST'd input and render a check to print.

But for very complex things I think it is a mistake to use PHP, for a
multitude of reasons.  I could go on for ages on the topic, too.

As time goes by, I find myself tending toward languages that aren't
loose with their typing.  Python is nice because "3" + 2 is an invalid
operation, but in PHP, it is not:

mbt at aloe ~ $ python
Python 2.7.2 (default, Apr 21 2012, 01:50:43)
[GCC 4.6.2] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> "3" + 2
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: cannot concatenate 'str' and 'int' objects
>>>
mbt at aloe ~ $ php
<?php echo "3" + 2; ?>

5

This can lead to all sorts of problems.  I _hate_ this type of
"helpfulness", if it can even be called that.  Yes, you can write
type-safety code yourself, but that is a serious pain in the ass when
you could get it by default in other languages, and it does save time
and effort.  One thing I dislike about Python is its lack of static
typing (though I find it very usable despite this, since it has strong
typing).

It is one reason, though, that I like languages like Go and C (and Vala,
which is essentially built on top of C and simplifies the use of the
GObject model).  Strong typing is a valuable asset to me, because I
don't have to have as much of the details of a program's design in my
mind when I am working in such languages; the compiler will tell me if I
screwed up with typing unless I disable type-checking for a particular
expression, but that reduces my burden to just a small fraction of what
it is in an environment like PHP's.

	--- Mike

-- 
A man who reasons deliberately, manages it better after studying Logic
than he could before, if he is sincere about it and has common sense.
                                   --- Carveth Read, “Logic”

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