PHP compared to Java/J2EE

[Erwin Moller]

Well, it could be done. Not really a standard though, and hardly advisable.

Hi,

There was a webserver involved in the projects.
In two cases even IIS, not excactly what I would advise, but well, I am
not the boss.

Sorry for the confusion.

Regards,
Erwin Moller

 

[NC]

Optimization is always both situational and non-transferable.

Situational, definitely. Non-transferable, I am not sure I agree.
For example, deploying PHP as a CGI executable is always a losing
proposition compared to either HTTP server module or FastCGI. The
choice between HTTP server module and FastCGI usually depends on the
HTTP server and the operating system. On BSD, regardless of the HTTP
server, FastCGI usually works better (that's the setup Yahoo! uses).
With Zeus, regardless of the OS, developers also recommend FastCGI.
The Linux/Apache crowd is unevenly split, with majority preferring the
Apache module and a sizable minority (including folks at GoDaddy)
leaning towards FastCGI.

Once performance gets in the ballpark, in other words, once
with appropriate effort you can get Java or PHP or C++ or C#
or whatever to run with approximately equal efficiency, the
ability to manage team projects, create all desired features
and minimize risk will be the dominant factor in platform
selection. Development and maintenance costs will trump
execution costs.

For small-scale applications, almost always. For large-scale
applications, almost never. In 2006, Google's R&D costs were $1.2
billion, while its purchases of long-lived assets (mostly computer
equipment and buildings housing it) amounted to $1.9 billion:

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312507044494/d10k.htm

And that's Google, running its production systems on a proprietary
Linux-based software stack. Were we talking about a company whose
production systems run on an out-of-the-box commercial stack
(WebSphere/Oracle or Windows/SQL Server), R&D costs would be lower (no
in-house development of kernel and file system) and purchases of long-
lived assets, higher (licenses for commercial software running on
numerous production servers).

At some point one has to assert that the platform is fast enough,
and look for other criteria to choose the right one.

Indeed. And one of these factors just happens to be licensing cost.
And that's where PHP (and, I might add, Python) shine, as they can be
deployed on an open-source software stack.

Cheers,
NC

 

[Lew]

Indeed. And one of these factors just happens to be licensing cost.
And that's where PHP (and, I might add, Python) shine, as they can be
deployed on an open-source software stack.

Many Java-based systems, including one of the benchmark leaders now for Java
EE server apps, have the same licensing cost as you describe for the PHP /
Python case. They can also integrate Python in the mix, should one so desire.