Jon Paris says that PHP not Easier to Learn than Java

On 2/4/2011 12:17 PM, Jon Paris wrote:

I've been agreeing with so many of your posts lately Joe but it was too good to last ...

I don't personally know of anyone who has blankly made the kind of statement that you attribute to those of us who find PHP a good transition language for an RPG programmer. I don't know anyone who simplistically states that PHP is easier to learn than Java.

Okay. Gonna quote that a LOT. Jon Paris says that PHP is not easier to learn than Java. Got it. PHP is a transition language. Transition to what, we're not sure. Maybe Java.

The syntax is very similar because both "stole" their basic syntax from C.

Not true. C has nothing for try/catch or object syntax. You might have gotten partial credit for this answer if you'd said C++ rather than C, since PHP is actually closer to C++ with the arrow syntax, but C?

I have and do say that PHP can be easier for many RPG programmers to learn because you can code without having to get totally into OO. I know personally many programmers (myself included) who tried to learn Java but were never able to get comfortable with it. Many of those have subsequently tried pHP and been successful.

You can't program OO PHP but not be able to program Java. The syntaxes are exactly the same, as I've shown. If you're using just procedural PHP, that's different. Then you're just using one of a bazillion scripting languages, many of which are better than PHP.

Java is a great language and works well for many people. So does PHP. End of story.

No, PHP is not a great language, and certainly not the procedural version. It's the LDA of programming languages. It's quick and dirty and easy to use and horrible long term. It allows you to shortcut proper programming with nasty shortcuts. The best thing about the language is its OO, which is lifted directly from Java.

PHP is Java without the proper programming practices. C++ redux, but without the benefits of static typing.

And now you've heard the REST of the story.

Joe