[maknz]

I'm a PHP developer (reasonably experienced, in my opinion anyway). The only practical downside of PHP is the standard library is a bit iffy, because breaking BC that much is a big deal. Many experienced developers prefer PHP, it's not just a language for newbie web developers to get their feet wet in.

I think the reason you see a lot of terrible PHP code is because it has low barriers to entry, a lot of inexperienced people who really aren't programmers can jump in and build crap really easily. But there is _a lot_ of good PHP code out there too.