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There are a lot of reasons already discussed, this one is especially famous: http://me.veekun.com/blog/2012/04/09/php-a-fractal-of-bad-design/ http://me.veekun.

There are a lot of reasons already discussed, this one is especially famous: http://me.veekun.com/blog/2012/04/09/php-a-fractal-of-bad-design/ http://me.veekun.com/blog/2012/04/09/php-a-fractal-of-bad-de... PHP is not a exceptionally bad platform from a technical perspective, it usually gets the job done, is reliable, easy to operate and performant. But i guess the real reason why so many developers - including me - hate PHP is that plain PHP is pretty boring. It doesn't have opinions on anything and no exciting concepts or language features. Now you can use great frameworks that implement great ideas in PHP, but because PHP has been around for a long time, much of the code out there and still in production is spaghetti code that is no fun to work with and the only option to change that is often a complete rewrite.

feydaykyn 13y ago
The CodingHorror blog have been quite vocal on the tour too : http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/06/the-php-singularity.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/06/the-php-singularity...
- dionidium 13y ago
  The problem with Jeff's writing isn't that he ever says one big thing that's just obviously wrong, but his pieces are full of bits that just sort of don't make sense. Remember the immediate visceral reaction you had to the double-clawed hammer? That's exactly the reaction most sane programmers have to their first encounter with the web programming language PHP. First of all, I didn't have a visceral reaction to that image (and I'm not sure Jeff knows what that word means), but setting that aside, the second sentiment is just wrong. PHP doesn't cause that reaction on your first encounter. Most of its ugliness is in a bunch of little things that you learn to deal with over time. Another example. He says: What we ought to be talking about is not how terrible PHP is – although its continued terribleness is a particularly damning indictment – but how we programmers can culturally displace a deeply flawed tool with a better one. How do we encourage new programmers to avoid picking up the double clawed hammer in favor of, well, a regular hammer? And in the very next paragraph: Despite the serious problems with PHP, I was forced to consider it. If you want to produce free-as-in-whatever code that runs on virtually every server in the world with zero friction or configuration hassles, PHP is damn near your only option. I don't know how he doesn't think that contradicts his previous point. Actually, now I'm not even sure what his previous point was. Inexperienced programmers are wrong to choose PHP. But, also, PHP is the best choice available. I won't go paragraph by paragraph, but these things really add up when reading his writing.
jnardiello 13y ago
Well, i like PHP but i see your point. To me, re-writing everything and introducing tests (PHPUnit: Ohhhhhh) is exciting.
tptacek 13y ago
This article is written in an "inflammatory" style, but it makes some hard- to- rebut points about PHP. If you're wondering why people hate PHP, like, really wondering, and not just trying to make yourself feel better about the language, try to get past the tone and read the technical content. (If you're just trying to make yourself feel better about PHP, just remind yourself that Facebook is built in it, as are lots of other credible systems; languages are tools, and while better tools help, skill and discipline are more important).

feydaykyn 13y ago

The CodingHorror blog have been quite vocal on the tour too : http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/06/the-php-singularity.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/06/the-php-singularity...

dionidium 13y ago
The problem with Jeff's writing isn't that he ever says one big thing that's just obviously wrong, but his pieces are full of bits that just sort of don't make sense. Remember the immediate visceral reaction you had to the double-clawed hammer? That's exactly the reaction most sane programmers have to their first encounter with the web programming language PHP. First of all, I didn't have a visceral reaction to that image (and I'm not sure Jeff knows what that word means), but setting that aside, the second sentiment is just wrong. PHP doesn't cause that reaction on your first encounter. Most of its ugliness is in a bunch of little things that you learn to deal with over time. Another example. He says: What we ought to be talking about is not how terrible PHP is – although its continued terribleness is a particularly damning indictment – but how we programmers can culturally displace a deeply flawed tool with a better one. How do we encourage new programmers to avoid picking up the double clawed hammer in favor of, well, a regular hammer? And in the very next paragraph: Despite the serious problems with PHP, I was forced to consider it. If you want to produce free-as-in-whatever code that runs on virtually every server in the world with zero friction or configuration hassles, PHP is damn near your only option. I don't know how he doesn't think that contradicts his previous point. Actually, now I'm not even sure what his previous point was. Inexperienced programmers are wrong to choose PHP. But, also, PHP is the best choice available. I won't go paragraph by paragraph, but these things really add up when reading his writing.

jnardiello 13y ago

Well, i like PHP but i see your point. To me, re-writing everything and introducing tests (PHPUnit: Ohhhhhh) is exciting.

tptacek 13y ago

This article is written in an "inflammatory" style, but it makes some hard- to- rebut points about PHP. If you're wondering why people hate PHP, like, really wondering, and not just trying to make yourself feel better about the language, try to get past the tone and read the technical content. (If you're just trying to make yourself feel better about PHP, just remind yourself that Facebook is built in it, as are lots of other credible systems; languages are tools, and while better tools help, skill and discipline are more important).