Yeah, I like PHP quite a bit for the instant gratification, it definitely has the quickest zero-to-dynamic-content rate in the world today[1] (though I can't sp

Yeah, I like PHP quite a bit for the instant gratification, it definitely has the quickest zero-to-dynamic-content rate in the world today[1] (though I can't speak for Windows systems, dunno what has the lowest barriers of entry for an aspiring, Windows-based geek).. But, the landscape has changed drastically since this article has written. I guess I'd consider PHP the second generation of web development platforms[2], with CGI being the first. Not to say PHP is going away, but it's certainly not a phenomenon at this stage in the game, its a de-facto tool but it's facing an uphill battle to stay important (IMO), the phenomena today are Rails, Django and the slew of 3rd generation tools that accompany them. [1] before anyone argues, it's basically test.php: <? print 'hello ' . $_GET['hello'] ?> and then http://localhost/~user/test.php?hello=world http://localhost/~user/test.php?hello=world The tools are ubiquitous enough that setup is a non-issue. [2] I'd say that our better, late 2nd and early 3rd generation tools lowered some barriers to development and allowed us to rethink the web and how we were building it, which led to "Web 2.0".