5 ms·

This is syntactic sugar at best; other languages such as Python are cleaner and are more performant. Facebook's efforts to compile PHP to C++, HipHop, demonstra

This is syntactic sugar at best; other languages such as Python are cleaner and are more performant. Facebook's efforts to compile PHP to C++, HipHop, demonstrate this need, and in my opinion, this project is a step in the wrong direction. PHP was great for its time, but sometimes you have to let grandpa go.

mcantelon 15y ago
Sometimes you're stuck with large PHP codebases.
- ericfrenkiel 15y ago
  very true, though how would this project help? A major rewrite would have to be done with PHP-Snow just as much as another language.
  - mcantelon 15y ago
    If you were adding to the codebase, you could write the code using Snow. You could also rewrite select portions that you regularly need to work on, as opposed to having to port the entire codebase to another language.
    - ericfrenkiel 15y ago
      Again, what is the advantage to be gained by simply reducing syntax? Programming efficiency? Saving a few key strokes? Your suggested approach would certainly add more drag for little gain for programming teams. Developers would be better served optimizing performance, not messing around with simplifying syntax. For that reason, HipHop a worthwhile addition to the PHP canon; this not at all.
      - mcantelon 15y ago
        Reducing syntax noise can theoretically make code easier to read and write. I personally don't go for that approach, but others swear by it and if it increases their productivity and makes them happier then that's a good thing. Optimizing performance and making writing/managing code easier are two different problems and not mutually exclusive. Code written in Snow can then be optimized with HipHop.
      - chc 15y ago
        I am genuinely perplexed by the fact that you don't seem to realize syntax is not just what you write, it's also what you read. Anything that makes code easier to read and understand is a win. Python is just as "worthless" as Snow by the metric you're espousing here, because the benefits of Python over well-optimized C are in simplicity of reading and writing, not runtime performance.

mcantelon 15y ago

Sometimes you're stuck with large PHP codebases.

ericfrenkiel 15y ago
very true, though how would this project help? A major rewrite would have to be done with PHP-Snow just as much as another language.
- mcantelon 15y ago
  If you were adding to the codebase, you could write the code using Snow. You could also rewrite select portions that you regularly need to work on, as opposed to having to port the entire codebase to another language.
  - ericfrenkiel 15y ago
    Again, what is the advantage to be gained by simply reducing syntax? Programming efficiency? Saving a few key strokes? Your suggested approach would certainly add more drag for little gain for programming teams. Developers would be better served optimizing performance, not messing around with simplifying syntax. For that reason, HipHop a worthwhile addition to the PHP canon; this not at all.
    - mcantelon 15y ago
      Reducing syntax noise can theoretically make code easier to read and write. I personally don't go for that approach, but others swear by it and if it increases their productivity and makes them happier then that's a good thing. Optimizing performance and making writing/managing code easier are two different problems and not mutually exclusive. Code written in Snow can then be optimized with HipHop.
    - chc 15y ago
      I am genuinely perplexed by the fact that you don't seem to realize syntax is not just what you write, it's also what you read. Anything that makes code easier to read and understand is a win. Python is just as "worthless" as Snow by the metric you're espousing here, because the benefits of Python over well-optimized C are in simplicity of reading and writing, not runtime performance.