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If it allows me the same benefits as the language does on the web then I'll be using it, regardless of how many people think that makes me "not smart". That wa

If it allows me the same benefits as the language does on the web then I'll be using it, regardless of how many people think that makes me "not smart". That was part of the OP's point. "PHP's killer app is the LAMP stack and $5 hosting." That option makes PHP useful in many cases where arguably better languages would not be smart choice. But, without that same value in the mobile space, what's the case for using PHP over, say, Objective C or JavaScript or Ruby or Lua, other than not knowing Objective C or JavaScript or Ruby or Lua?

Joeri 14y ago
Let's go over those: - Objective C: not a competitor as it doesn't do multi-platform, which I assume will be PHP's main angle. - Javascript: weird OO model (compared to PHP's traditional OO), much smaller set of API's, typically tied to a web UI (PHP would probably wrap around native UI API's). Along with C# I consider this the strongest contender, but I can see why people would prefer PHP. - Ruby, lua: does anyone actually use those on mobile? I'm sure they have their qualities, but those are really niche languages (on mobile). To me these are not serious competitors.
- ufo 14y ago
  given that the whole point of Lua is that its easy to embed and run everywhere, I can guarantee that someone is using it on mobile somewhere.
- cpeterso 14y ago
  Lua is very popular with iOS game developers.
  - wreckimnaked 14y ago
    Lua is very popular with most game developers.
    - jamesbritt 14y ago
      There is a Lua mobile game framework as well (which is why I popped Lua into that ad hoc list).
- jamesbritt 14y ago
  re: Lua. http://www.coronalabs.com/products/corona-sdk/ http://www.coronalabs.com/products/corona-sdk/ There's RubyMotion for iOS, and some JRuby->Android thing I haven't looked at in a while. BTW, what about PHP's OO is traditional? Certainly not traditional like Smalltalk. JavaScript s probably better thought of as prototype-based, not OOP.

Joeri 14y ago

Let's go over those: - Objective C: not a competitor as it doesn't do multi-platform, which I assume will be PHP's main angle. - Javascript: weird OO model (compared to PHP's traditional OO), much smaller set of API's, typically tied to a web UI (PHP would probably wrap around native UI API's). Along with C# I consider this the strongest contender, but I can see why people would prefer PHP. - Ruby, lua: does anyone actually use those on mobile? I'm sure they have their qualities, but those are really niche languages (on mobile). To me these are not serious competitors.

ufo 14y ago
given that the whole point of Lua is that its easy to embed and run everywhere, I can guarantee that someone is using it on mobile somewhere.
cpeterso 14y ago
Lua is very popular with iOS game developers.
- wreckimnaked 14y ago
  Lua is very popular with most game developers.
  - jamesbritt 14y ago
    There is a Lua mobile game framework as well (which is why I popped Lua into that ad hoc list).
jamesbritt 14y ago
re: Lua. http://www.coronalabs.com/products/corona-sdk/ http://www.coronalabs.com/products/corona-sdk/ There's RubyMotion for iOS, and some JRuby->Android thing I haven't looked at in a while. BTW, what about PHP's OO is traditional? Certainly not traditional like Smalltalk. JavaScript s probably better thought of as prototype-based, not OOP.