Joe, good questions.
And it seems to me (and I might be wrong here) the primary reason people
use PHP is because it's free.
What you have said is probably the main reason, but for me it was just as
much the ease of coding. PHP is about as easy as it gets when you are first
starting to do web apps.
I'm just worried about over-hyping this, the same way that Java and
WebSphere was over-hyped.
IMO, Java and WAS were only over-hyped because they failed to deliver on
existing hardware with existing knowledge. You still need a decent iSeries
to get WAS running (speaking from assumption and inexperience as I haven't
used WAS on an iSeries in awhile) - maybe the 515 with an extra stick of RAM
addresses that. If Java was a better business logic language I think it
would have made more ground in replacing RPG. If Java (and all the add-ons)
were more intimately integrated then it would have, again, done a better job
of replacing RPG. The thing I like about Java the most is not that I can
run it on pretty much any OS, but the fact that I can do web, desktop and
micro devices all with a single language. Not many languages can boast that
- including RPG and PHP. dotNet is the only one that comes to mind that
can.
"Why PHP has a better chance than Java" - by Aaron Bartell :-)
PHP is much more entry-level-mindset ready, and if it can take you to
enterprise level infrastructure well then it deserves some time in the
spotlight as a solid alternative to Java. I would consider PHP to be RPG
CGI on steroids along with the biggest collection of example source out
there to pull from (wading through the mix can be painful at times). I am
guessing PHP performance will be much better on smaller machines being that
it simply runs as a mod under Apache.
Wow. That was the shortest article I have ever written ;-)
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[
mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Joe Pluta
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 10:28 AM
To: 'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'
Subject: RE: MySQL on System i
From: David Gibbs
Pluta: What is the benefit of turning i5/OS into a PHP/MySQL
box?
From my perspective, it would bring the robustness of DB2/400
(DB2/i5?) to PHP applications.
This would mean a situation where a PHP application is critical enough that
the robustness of the i5 outweighs the cost of entry. And it seems to me
(and I might be wrong here) the primary reason people use PHP is because
it's free.
How many commercial PHP applications are making lots of money? If there are
a lot, then that's one issue. If not, then this is another instance of "run
free applications on your expensive server".
I suppose anything that brings users to the box is good, but do you
want
to
support business applications written in PHP and MySQL?
There are a lot of applications that already exist, that will now be
able to benefit from the robustness of the platform.
I'm not disagreeing. I'm just worried about over-hyping this, the same way
that Java and WebSphere was over-hyped. There are things i5/OS is good at
and things it is not. My guess is that PHP, like Java, likes a dedicated
processor and so interaction with RPG will need to be carefully managed.
But two things to remember, I guess: one is that it is here so we have to
figure out what to do with it, and two anything that brings more people to
the box is probably a good thing.
Joe
midrange.com
