Python vs. PHP

[Steve Holden]

"ll" <lloeffler at home.com> wrote in message
news:3AE0D4E7.FA51F14D at home.com...
> I already have a pretty large existing code base on an interactive
> website written in PHP.  I'm very happy with the performance and ease of
> use, integration with MySQL and Apache.  (The  "trinity" of web
> development).
>
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

> I've been playing around with python recently and have written a few CGI
> scripts with it, but I am reluctant to devote too much effort into
> Python development.
>
And why should you, if PHP is meeting your needs.

> How does Python stack up against PHP in terms of performance?  PHP runs
> as a module in Apache, I think, whereas Python runs in a seperate
> process.  What kind of overhead is there in starting up the VM for each
> page hit?  How well does it scale?
>
mod_python and mod_snake will give you persistent Python for Apache, I
believe.

> I have heard of Zope, but don't know a great deal about it.  It seems
> more like an entire framework for a website--how well would it integrate
> with my existing codebase?
>
Not at all: Zope is a complete server framework.

> Drop in any other ideas/thoughts you have about the comparison
>
> Luke
>
Again: why consider change if what you have is doing what you want. Python
is a great language, but the effort of climbing the learning curve would
probably mean you would take a month or three (depending on the size of your
current codebase) just to get where you are now.

You could probably go further with Python, but do you *need* to?

Start playing with Python for non-web apps first, look at the tutorial on
www.python.org, see what you think then.

regards
 Steve