[ErrantX]

PHP has its frustrations. It's not outright broken.

But my point was that all other programming languages suffer their own "broken" problems. I managed a team working in Ruby not long ago; they had no end of gripes and frustrations.

The key point is that compared to the challenge of building a complex application, those "difficulties" are trivial. And once you are at that stage, anyway, you're so used to the way your chosen language works it doesn't matter.

These are not constraints on what the language can achieve or do and simply require knowing about them so that you don't paint yourself into a corner.

Because application design is a hard problem it doesn't matter, given a relatively skilled team, what language is chosen.

This is identical in other engineering disciplines; a friend of mine works in motor design (electrical motor) and is constantly griping about nuances in the tools and equipment. Same issues.

[cageface]

Recognizing that all languages have their problems is one thing. Arguing that all languages are essentially equivalent in the larger sense is another.

Sorry I just don't buy it. Tools aren't the only factor but they do matter.