Re: PHP vs Perl

[Erich Schroeder <erich@museum.state.il.us>]

Lotta possibilities, but really both are worth working with. PHP is easier 
to deal with as an script language embedded within html code, and harder 
to deal with as a stand-alone scripting language for commandline work. 
Perl can also be embedded within html code, although it is more rare to 
find than the php implementations 
(see HTML::Mason http://freshmeat.net/projects/htmlmason/ and
Bricolage http://freshmeat.net/projects/bricolage/ )

Learn perl and you have an important skill for programming that can be 
used on the web if the webserver has the right stuff installed. 

Learn PHP and you have an important skill for the web that can be used for
general programming if the machine has the right stuff installed.

Learn Python and you have both (or neither?). I dunno, never learned.

In any of the cases you have to pay close attention to the security needs 
for any application available from the web. PHP has had the problem of 
youth (both of the the language and of many of the programers) so a good 
number of the useful scripts available bear carefull examination and use. 
But then, one of the nice things about php is the wealth of examples and 
usable scripts that are available.

Erich

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Erich Schroeder                    Phone: (217)785-0033
Curator, Information Technologies  FAX:   (217)785-2857
Illinois State Museum GIS Lab      email:erich(at)illinois.state.museum
                 http://illinois.state.museum/
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