PHP or Lift framework for a web application?

Question

Hi guys!

I'm currently developing a web application using PHP, but I'm considering developing the web application using the lift framework instead, because twitter and foursquare have implemented it. I know a few benefits using lift/Scala but, could you guys mention some benefits compared to PHP?

Many thanks

Answer 1

Resmus Lerdorf, the inventor of PHP, once said with regards to foursqaure (build with scala/lift) that it's the first site for a long time that doesn't have a single security hole he could find.

Answer 2

If you ask such a question you'd better stay with PHP. Once your project becomes more and more complex and you are fed up with PHP limitations the question will disappear on its own.

But Lift does not have to be the framework of your choice.

Answer 3

If you're having trouble enumerating the reasons why you'd use scala/lift over PHP, you'll probably want to stick with PHP. PHP is a far more mature and supported platform - oodles of documentation, huge community, tons of tools and libraries.

Scala is a great language, but the primary reason it's being used by Twitter and Foursquare is it's ability to work with enormous sets of data on a horizontally scaled architecture. These are very specific problems for these companies, and Scala was chosen for this purpose very deliberately.

As someone who has recently begun learning Scala, the community and documentation is minute compared to PHP's. Especially where Lift is concerned. And things like IDE support is still in it's early stages.

There's really no way to compare the two technologies (very different approaches). If want to use Scala, use it, but you'll probably be investing more time and energy if you're not already proficient (also, some background in Java doesn't hurt). PHP is just PHP, it's so easy to just pick up and use.

Answer 4

You should consider anything except PHP a good language for web applications, but Scala is a pretty excellent one, although it will change the way you think about programming as a whole. Some people can't handle that, so be warned.

PHP advantages:

• Is installed even on the cheapest "5¢-a-month" webhoster.

PHP disadvantages:

• The libraries are not stable and changes every now and then, without notice.

• The whole language is buggy and generally doesn't work as a sane person would expect.

• The documentation is unusable, sometimes wrong, sometimes only understandable with the user supplied usage examples (which are often wrong or not optimal, too).

• No quick way to see the implementation of some language-supplied code.

• The API is one big mess ... this shouldn't be called API, it should be called MCOBRIM: Messy Collection of Buggy, Random and Ill-named Methods.