4 ms·

Saying PHP is good because Facebook use it is kind of like saying phone hacking is good because it was utilised but some of the UK's most popular newspapers...

Saying PHP is good because Facebook use it is kind of like saying phone hacking is good because it was utilised but some of the UK's most popular newspapers... I'd be interested to know if there's any commentary from people high up in Facebook on whether they'd use PHP again if they were starting now?

nivla 14y ago
What kind of an analogy is that? It is not only flawed but does not relate to your argument. I guess the point that illumen was trying to make is that PHP can be used in popular real world applications and is "proven" to scale. Just like Facebook, you can look at Wikipedia, Wordpress, Tumbler or earlier days of Youtube all of which was/is written in PHP! Be comfortable with the language you prefer and quit whining about the rest!!!
- talkingquickly 14y ago
  In no way whining about PHP, I still maintain various projects which use it and for which I think it's well suited. The analogy was only meant to demonstrate an objection to arguments along the lines of "it's used by something popular therefore it's good" or "lots of people use it therefore it's good" which seem to be common points put forward in favour of PHP. Popularity/ use by someone popular may be an indicator of quality but it very often isn't, the analogy isn't intended to go any further than that!
tomelders 14y ago
No, it's nothing like that.
jfarmer 14y ago
Look at Quora, Path, and Asana, the three most successful consumer startups started by former Facebookers. None use PHP.
- illumen 14y ago
  Never heard of them.
  - jfarmer 14y ago
    And that's relevant how?
  - irahul 14y ago
    You are deliberately trying to miss the point. But in the off chance that you don't really get it, the point is quora, asana were started by early facebook programmers, and they didn't use PHP. If they liked PHP so much, they would have used it. I can't find a citation, but there was a thread where a fb engineer claimed fb's internal PHP wiki starts with "There are two kind of people. People who hate PHP, and people who don't use PHP."
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - swah 14y ago
      Quora founder talking about they went with Python: http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choose-Python-for-its-development http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choo... "PHP was out of the question. Facebook is stuck on that for legacy reasons, not because it's the best choice right now."
    - maratd 14y ago
      > If they liked PHP so much, they would have used it. Or they got tired of being bullied by people like you.
      - irahul 14y ago
        >> If they liked PHP so much, they would have used it. > Or they got tired of being bullied by people like you. Or they really aren't a fan of PHP? http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choose-Python-for-its-development http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choo...
papsosouid 14y ago
There is such commentary from people who left facebook to do their own thing. They did not use PHP. http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choose-Python-for-its-development http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choo...

nivla 14y ago

What kind of an analogy is that? It is not only flawed but does not relate to your argument. I guess the point that illumen was trying to make is that PHP can be used in popular real world applications and is "proven" to scale. Just like Facebook, you can look at Wikipedia, Wordpress, Tumbler or earlier days of Youtube all of which was/is written in PHP! Be comfortable with the language you prefer and quit whining about the rest!!!

talkingquickly 14y ago
In no way whining about PHP, I still maintain various projects which use it and for which I think it's well suited. The analogy was only meant to demonstrate an objection to arguments along the lines of "it's used by something popular therefore it's good" or "lots of people use it therefore it's good" which seem to be common points put forward in favour of PHP. Popularity/ use by someone popular may be an indicator of quality but it very often isn't, the analogy isn't intended to go any further than that!

tomelders 14y ago

No, it's nothing like that.

jfarmer 14y ago

Look at Quora, Path, and Asana, the three most successful consumer startups started by former Facebookers. None use PHP.

illumen 14y ago
Never heard of them.
- jfarmer 14y ago
  And that's relevant how?
- irahul 14y ago
  You are deliberately trying to miss the point. But in the off chance that you don't really get it, the point is quora, asana were started by early facebook programmers, and they didn't use PHP. If they liked PHP so much, they would have used it. I can't find a citation, but there was a thread where a fb engineer claimed fb's internal PHP wiki starts with "There are two kind of people. People who hate PHP, and people who don't use PHP."
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - swah 14y ago
    Quora founder talking about they went with Python: http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choose-Python-for-its-development http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choo... "PHP was out of the question. Facebook is stuck on that for legacy reasons, not because it's the best choice right now."
  - maratd 14y ago
    > If they liked PHP so much, they would have used it. Or they got tired of being bullied by people like you.
    - irahul 14y ago
      >> If they liked PHP so much, they would have used it. > Or they got tired of being bullied by people like you. Or they really aren't a fan of PHP? http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choose-Python-for-its-development http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choo...

papsosouid 14y ago

There is such commentary from people who left facebook to do their own thing. They did not use PHP. http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choose-Python-for-its-development http://www.quora.com/Quora-Infrastructure/Why-did-Quora-choo...