| PHP was the first language I learnt and although I don't use it as much today I still think it's a great language for startups. Languages like Java, Node, C#, etc are great but unlike PHP you can't just drag and drop a .php file on a webserver, point your browser at it and go. Basic things required for web development like connecting to a MySQL database are made trivial in PHP. Code is executed synchronously in PHP and as mentioned in this article requests are stateless which makes the logic much easier to follow and debug than say Java where you have state or Node where you have callbacks and promises. PHP also gives you the flexibility to write procedural, OO, or even functional code. This flexibility is off putting to some, but it allows the language to be useful no matter what your skill level or preferences are. Another thing that's easy with PHP is debugging. You don't have to worry about compiling code or accidentally taking down your entire server (most of the time) if you encounter a critical error. If one of your PHP pages runs into an issue you can enable debugging with a line of code, make your fix then hit the refresh to see if it's working. I learnt to code writing PHP when I was 16 years old. Me and my friend had an idea for a startup but neither of knew how to program beyond a little bit of ActionScript. We were good with computers, but if we decided to use Java I'm certain the project would have never have gotten off the ground because of the steep learning curve. PHP allowed us to skill up with the language and enabled us to move fast despite not really knowing what we were doing. Writing PHP in the ICT room at lunch with my friend was some of the best memories I have of school... I doubt I'd be doing this today if it wasn't for how much fun I had learning and building stuff with PHP when I was younger. |
"Trivial to connect to a database" isn't a selling point. It is a liability when put in the hands of inexperienced programmers.