Re: Is RPG dying

As for the discussion on PHP (keep in mind I have been coding PHP for close
to 10 years and like the language), I think that the growing number of
scripting languages and PHP's lack of flexibly are largely responsible for
the decline.

It is easy to see PHP's downturn as a sign of scripting languages being on
the decline, but the exact opposite is actually true. If you look at
TIOBE, dynamically typed languages (which are often scripting languages)
are on a steady, but gradual, rise. That being said, PHP's performance and
features are not the best when compared to some of the scripting languages
that are on the rise. These alternatives can also be used to write CLI,
Web, Desktop, and even Mobile applications. While PHP may (technically) be
able to do all those things, it seems to be used almost exclusively for web
development. So that certainly does not help its numbers.

In short, I think the major issue is simply PHP's inability to adapt and
become more than a language used for web applications. In a day and age of
"apps", that fact does nothing to help its numbers.



On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 10:47 AM, <BButterworth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I agree, but if one is going to choose a particular language for learning
or investment purposes, Java is still a strong candidate. In addition to
its high ranking on TIOBE (currently #1), it has a much wider application
than any web scripting language. It can be used not only for web and
enterprise development, but for cross-platform fat and rich client
applications, as well as embedded in devices. And while it may be
displaced by Scala or another language down the line, corporations are not
going to throw away their Java investments any time soon, especially with
the current economy. Java also has huge corporate backing from IBM,
Oracle, Google, VMWare and Red Hat to name a few. Another big point in
its favor is that it is the development language for one of the two
hottest mobile platforms (Android).

In contrast, Objective-C is mostly suitable for native iOS and OS X
applications, but is not used for web or cross-platform development. Apple
currently seems to have little interest in the enterprise beyond device
support. I don't see any focus on providing tools for enterprise
application development like with Java and .NET. Apple dropped their
server hardware and Java-based web framework a while back.

C# is great if one is going the Microsoft route, and I have a great
appreciation for their development tools and frameworks. MS should have a
presence in the enterprise for a long time, but they are floundering on
the mobile front and losing mind share as a result. I am skeptical that
Windows 8 will be enough of a revolution for tablet or mobile computing to
displace iOS or Android. It is a bad sign when Windows Phone 7 is losing
market share. I recently read that in Q4 2011 2.5 Windows 7 Phone devices
were sold (1.6%, a 14% decline from Q4 2010) as contrasted with 37 million
iPhones (23.4%) and 81.9 million Android phones (51.6%). Maybe that will
begin to turn around in 2012, but Apple and Google are not going to remain
idle. Plus, while C# can be used for mobile development, it is not the
primary language as WinRT is apparently an unmanaged, C/C++-based API.

In any event, Java still seems like a safe investment. Likewise, I think
RPG is a safe investment given that IBM is doing well and like Apple,
increasing market share with Power Systems and IBM i in a bad economy. I
won't rehash that, though, for the sake of the member's on the list...

Blake



date: Fri, 09 Mar 2012 06:11:06 -0600
from: Joe Pluta <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
subject: Re: Is RPG dying

On 3/9/2012 1:53 AM, John Yeung wrote:

On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 10:15 PM, Joe Pluta<joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

wrote:

I'll be happy to make a prediction. PHP is on a steady
decline, has been for the last several years.

You cite TIOBE, which shows PHP's trajectory as basically flat from
sometime in 2004 through 2010, with a more noticeable decline only in
the last couple of years. (Contrast with Java, which has been
declining for at least a decade, even after adjusting for the "Google
revision" in 2004.)

Yes, the decline since, say, 2010 has been dramatic. Almost as bad as
Visual Basic.

You want to be current, learn C# or Objective-C.

I think what these languages' TIOBE ratings show is that the .NET and
iPhone platforms are enjoying a lot of success right now.

I agree. I wrote about that nearly a year ago:


http://www.mcpressonline.com/programming/rpg/practical-rpg-the-future-of-rpg.html

You want to be last year's news, learn PHP or better yet
Python. Scripting languages are sooooo 2006. :)

True. Though it sounds like Hans got his PHP job more recently than
that. At least we don't have to worry about RPG ever having been or
ever becoming a fad. :)

People get Perl jobs too. :) But to use the trite observation, if you
were building an application today would you use PHP as your first
choice? I wouldn't.

Joe
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