2 ms·

Yes I am serious. The most widely used and supported web language is likely to remain the dominant language on the web and will not be surpassed by tiny niche l

Yes I am serious. The most widely used and supported web language is likely to remain the dominant language on the web and will not be surpassed by tiny niche languages. That statement is one I would describe as reasonable.

_pius 17y ago
That statement is indeed reasonable, but some of the other stuff you said wasn't. For instance, your assertion that Ruby and Python are "tiny niche languages" is false. You also used hyperbole like: "Nothing will take over from PHP. The battle is over." It seems hard to believe that this was being said with a straight face. I know how you like to jerk the Hacker News community around at times, so I thought it prudent to ask if you're being serious. :) * http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1038779 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1038779
- maxklein 17y ago
  I wish I could find more of these, but ruby and python are indeed tiny compared to PHP: http://www.zacker.org/files/market_share_graph.jpg http://www.zacker.org/files/market_share_graph.jpg My judgement call is that the battle is over. I may be wrong, but I am on the right side of wrong. If I turn out to be wrong in the future, I'll look back and still think I made the right call given the data I had. It has been a while since I decided to learn python and django. At the time I thought they would take over. Well, I was wrong. They have not - PHP has continued to grow faster than they have. So this time my call is that PHP is the thing to stick to, particularly when I see moves like this one facebook has. In any case, this choice I made is the safe one. I can't lose by making this decision.
  - _pius 17y ago
    I don't know anything about that graph, but I'd be happy to cede the point that there are many more installations of PHP than Ruby/Python on the web as long as you'll cede the point that this fact doesn't relegate them to "tiny niche languages." If you don't agree, let me know and I'll argue that point. Obviously what you choose to use for development is your decision. That said, I am confused as to why it's so important to you that you use the most popular language. After a certain threshold of popularity, it doesn't seem that it should matter. PHP, Python, and Ruby all have the critical mass of developers and library support needed to render language popularity concerns irrelevant.
    - maxklein 17y ago
      Okay, I'll cede that point. Python (don't know much about ruby) has the support you need to write your own web apps. But try to find people who you can pay to continue your work - very difficult and very expensive. That's my main reason.
  - sailormoon 17y ago
    That's a lovely graph you've got there from 2006.
  - codexon 17y ago
    I wouldn't make a blanket assumption based on a graph like that. The number of PHP installations are higher for 2 useless reasons: 1. It is trivial to see if PHP is installed on a webserver. It is not so trivial to see if Python or Ruby is. 2. PHP has a strong presence in shared hosting, which is popular for hobbyist or low traffic websites. When you take into account that big websites like Youtube, Reddit, and FriendFeed are written in Python, these graphs are downright useless.

_pius 17y ago

That statement is indeed reasonable, but some of the other stuff you said wasn't. For instance, your assertion that Ruby and Python are "tiny niche languages" is false. You also used hyperbole like: "Nothing will take over from PHP. The battle is over." It seems hard to believe that this was being said with a straight face. I know how you like to jerk the Hacker News community around at times, so I thought it prudent to ask if you're being serious. :) * http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1038779 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1038779

maxklein 17y ago
I wish I could find more of these, but ruby and python are indeed tiny compared to PHP: http://www.zacker.org/files/market_share_graph.jpg http://www.zacker.org/files/market_share_graph.jpg My judgement call is that the battle is over. I may be wrong, but I am on the right side of wrong. If I turn out to be wrong in the future, I'll look back and still think I made the right call given the data I had. It has been a while since I decided to learn python and django. At the time I thought they would take over. Well, I was wrong. They have not - PHP has continued to grow faster than they have. So this time my call is that PHP is the thing to stick to, particularly when I see moves like this one facebook has. In any case, this choice I made is the safe one. I can't lose by making this decision.
- _pius 17y ago
  I don't know anything about that graph, but I'd be happy to cede the point that there are many more installations of PHP than Ruby/Python on the web as long as you'll cede the point that this fact doesn't relegate them to "tiny niche languages." If you don't agree, let me know and I'll argue that point. Obviously what you choose to use for development is your decision. That said, I am confused as to why it's so important to you that you use the most popular language. After a certain threshold of popularity, it doesn't seem that it should matter. PHP, Python, and Ruby all have the critical mass of developers and library support needed to render language popularity concerns irrelevant.
  - maxklein 17y ago
    Okay, I'll cede that point. Python (don't know much about ruby) has the support you need to write your own web apps. But try to find people who you can pay to continue your work - very difficult and very expensive. That's my main reason.
- sailormoon 17y ago
  That's a lovely graph you've got there from 2006.
- codexon 17y ago
  I wouldn't make a blanket assumption based on a graph like that. The number of PHP installations are higher for 2 useless reasons: 1. It is trivial to see if PHP is installed on a webserver. It is not so trivial to see if Python or Ruby is. 2. PHP has a strong presence in shared hosting, which is popular for hobbyist or low traffic websites. When you take into account that big websites like Youtube, Reddit, and FriendFeed are written in Python, these graphs are downright useless.