[Joeri]

Maybe I'm biased because I make PHP software for a living, but I would have to disagree PHP is harder to use properly than other languages. It has the duck typing abilities of javascript, and the class system of java (including rich reflection features). Yes, some things are weird, but no weirder than other languages. The type conversions are not weirder than javascript, and the function naming chaos is not weirder than C. I've programmed all those languages extensively, and I wouldn't say any of them are more productive than PHP.

What PHP is for me, is a paper cup. It's modest, utilitarian, not cool or elegant, but definitely efficient, useful and ubiquitous.

[icebraining]

It has the duck typing abilities of javascript, and the class system of java

Talk about a backhanded compliment :)

[mercurial]

The fact that PHP manages to combine drawbacks from different languages without offering corresponding advantages is not an endorsement.

[airtonix]

and yet python does all that without being ugly.