PHPDeveloper.org, PHP’s premiere news resource, has posted a great review of the newsworthy PHP-related events of 2005. Derick Rethans has also given us a great review of the events surrounding core PHP development last year. We saw the release of PHP 5.1, the renaming of the CSV trunk to 6.0 (in attempts to beat Perl to the punch, apparently), massive security concerns raised by applications ranging from phpBB to Mambo, Zend’s numerous partnerships and announcement of the Zend framework, great improvements to Pear, more conferences, more enthusiasm, more realization from the enterprise that PHP is where web application development is headed.
So, where is PHP going from here?
I think 2006 will involve a lot more of the same, with Zend’s new marketing director solidifying the company’s image as a no-nonsense, for-business open source company (like he helped do for RedHat)–and taking PHP along with it. The major hurdles PHP must still overcome in this journey are: the perception that it is not secure (a fire only fueled by reputable packages getting exploited this year, and the PHP’s haunting past with register_globals and other bad ideas); the perception that PHP coders are cowboys; and the lack of widespread adoption of PHP 5 due to the perception of poor backward compatability.
One of the major solutions is, of course, education. Periodicals like “International PHP Magazine” (in its new, more ubiquitous format) and “PHP | Arch”, numerous conferences, and Zend certification provide help with issues of security and maintainability. Chris Shiflett’s new book helps demystify the core issues surrounding PHP security. But we need more help if PHP is going to become not only the most popular, but most trusted web application development language in the industry. PHP doesn’t need another CMS package, another framework, another bulletin board. It needs good educational resources to help bring it to the enterprise. Hopefully, that’s what we will see emerge in 2006, making PHP not only popular but mature–because the language is about more than the syntax; it’s about the culture surrounding the people and ideas that make it great, about the customer perception and adoption.
It’s about time PHP stopped being a best kept secret and emerged as the gold standard for great development. And we don’t need a single new feature to accomplish that in 2006–we just need better education within the community and to bridge the gap with enterprise.
Here’s to a a great year in PHP–and an amazing opportunity ahead!
3 Comments
wow! i’m so glad i found your web site, Mr Peake.
i must begin by apologizing because i wanted so badly to comment on an archived article, and unable to find a way to contact you, sir, i decided that perhaps it just might be relevant to post here– and to cross-reference your article titled “PHP: Enterprise PHP Embarassment”. i hope that maybe you’ll add my comment there, or you’ll accept and leave it here. thank you. now, on to specifics…
i have been trying to illustrate a point about, i guess you could call it “PHP: Accepting a Sense of Credibilty” or “PHP: Shameful Development”– mostly in regard to php programmers and “students” being taken seriously. i can’t seem to find the article i read (if it sounds familiar to you, please send the URL), but i guess it doesn’t really matter because i get the impression that you’ve read similar articles, and they’ve affected you as they have myself– basically that it is an insult to read, what i actually went as far to call “propaganda” in my thread on this topic at PHPBuilder.com, (titled “said PHP ‘n MySQL– Client Gives Blank Stare” under Echo Lounge category there), when someone in an ivory tower somewhere writes an article about php programmers being nothing more than glorified “web masters” (to coin a 90’s term to further illustrate) who have found a way to beef up their html forms with dynamic content. when i read that article (the one i can’t find!), it made me wonder “am i doomed to forever be concerned about the credibility of my development medium?”.
thanks again for this article. i have posted your URL in mine at phpbuilder. i’d be delighted if you take a moment to view my thread there. (be patient if reading it, as most of my respondants misunderstood my point)
Jeff, thanks for your comments. I’ve never been laughed at for using PHP. But I do know PHP has come under undue fire. There’s always a certain amount of religiosity between languages, operating systems, text editors — you name it. So, I think a certain amount of mudslinging is to be expected. But sometimes in that mud there are kernels of useful feedback as well. So, rather than relying on numbers or personal feelings to justify where the language IS, I think we need to look at where the langauge can and should go. Hundreds of thousands of lines of enterprise-class PHP code later, the uninformed opinion that PHP is a “hobbyist language” just doesn’t phase me anymore. But when there’s some truth to what people say about what PHP might lack, I want to hear it — beause therein lies a chance at improvement. Thanks for checking in, and for caring about PHP. Trust me, you’re not alone.
Robert, after some struggling with my own thoughts on the issue, i wrote an article in my own blog. I hope that you have an extra moment to please read it, and i would be honored if you would provide some feedback to me. why do i seek feedback? well– i think you’ll understand if you take a look at my article. it’s a bit disjointed, perhaps lacking the focus it needs i’m afraid, but i do feel that there’s a “Good” article hiding within my slightly verbose text. i realize you must be a busy man, but i’m looking for inaccurate “facts” and possibile suggestions as to how i might turn the draft into something which would be worthy of urging others to read. the article is in my blog at:
whatsonyourbrain dot com
i started it after my comment above, so i decided to title it “PHP and MySQL Development: Creating and Accepting a Sense of Credibility”. until i remove “Draft” from the top, i’ll consider it as such.
i look forward to visiting RobertPeake dot com on a regular basis as well. my programming obsession is only beginning to develop! uh oh!
and i find places like this to be a comforting retreat, and exemplary of the “stuff” which a “novice” such as myself should be perusing when he has the chance to do so. learning from each other is a thing of beauty which i view with high regard.