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This is right when I started using it and it launched my career in software dev. You could build anything. Combine that with being 21-22 and the associated naiv

This is right when I started using it and it launched my career in software dev. You could build anything. Combine that with being 21-22 and the associated naivité and nothing was impossible. Prior to PHP as part of a LAMP stack, I had indeed been cobbling Perl scripts and GDBM key/pair databases to do web apps for various projects and customers. The ability to just print to the browser with PHP without explicitly having to send HTTP headers was wonderful.

cutler 5y ago
The Perl standard for cheap hosts was Lincoln Stein's CGI.pm (HTML::Mason required mod_perl for decent performance) but it was constantly subject to patches as the whole internet poked it to find holes. It taught me just how difficult it can be to get HTTP/CGI parsing correct and secure. I mean there were some pretty sharp people in the Perl community working on CGI.pm but you always knew another security hole was just round the corner. To some extent PHP sidestepped these issues which may be why it took off so quickly.