Don,
I recommend you take a look at our web site for more info. Free
documentation, webcasts, etc. The "Getting Started" webcast might be
appropriate.
The long and the short of it is that Net.Data and PHP have a lot of
similarities from a simplicity standpoint. The differences are subtle
but here are a few that I see:
1) OO is supported, but optional! You can develop solutions in PHP
using a procedural model like RPG and Net.Data, but you can also
leverage a very robust and powerful OO model. Then there is
ZendFramework, an open source "use-at-will" framework.
2) PHP costs the same as Net.Data...nothing. You can get in the car,
take it for a test drive, park it in the garage and use it as much or as
little as you like.
3) PHP is supported by a much WIDER base! There is one guy at IBM
Rochester who spends part of his time supporting Net.Data (Hi Nadir!)
There are thousands of people actively supporting PHP in the open source
community and a corporate entity called Zend (endorsed by IBM)
supporting PHP in commercial implementations.
4) Free code! Not much in the way of free code in the Net.Data realm.
But, hotscripts.com, phpclasses.org, sourceforge, etc. has LOTS of free
code and much of it will run just fine on an I BM i!
5) Simplicity and ease of use: While Net.Data has easier integration to
i5 native functions many of these functions are enabled via the PHP i5
Toolkit. The bigger advantage in learning PHP over Net.Data is that you
are learning a technology that is supported across multiple platforms
including IBM i. So the prose of the language does not change as you
move around. Just the dialect of the database yo are accessing. And if
that is a problem, there are a couple of database abstraction models
available like PDO.
6) IBM has voted with their feet. Net.Data was an AWESOME solution.
But IBM let WebSphere eat Net.Data's lunch! So Net.Data was killed on
all platforms at IBM except IBM i. (Kudos to IBM Rochester for
continuing to support this technology, by the way!) But, IBM is clear
that the future belongs to WebSphere and PHP. I am not saying you
should follow the crowd, but there can be safety in numbers and the PHP
numbers are significant...
7) I can probably come up with more of these. But this link discusses
an IBM based discussion of what you are asking for.
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/systems/library/es-phppart2/index.html
...and... a fine white paper put together by the IBM Rochester PHP Speed
Team located here:
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/resources/systems_i_software_php_pdf_from_
netdata_to_php-_a_comparison_study_11-19-06.pdf which details the above
site.
I must admit that while I started as a passionate Net.Data fan, my
frustration with IBM's direction got me animated about PHP. Therefore,
I am a tad biased :-)
Regards,
Mike
mike.p@xxxxxxxx Cell: (408)679-1011 Office: (815)722-3454
-----Original Message-----
From: web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Don Cavaiani
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 11:06 AM
To: Web Enabling the AS400 / iSeries
Subject: Re: [WEB400] PHP vs Net.Data
I know/use Net.Data and found it fully capable of doing everything I
needed done WEB wise. I had heard PHP was very much like it. We have
already gone another route - using a 4GL language which generates WEB
code.
I still use net.data for some of the simpler stuff. I was just curious
to know if PHP was at approximately the same complexity and
functionality (level) as net.data.
-----Original Message-----
From: web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Walden H. Leverich
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 10:56 AM
To: Web Enabling the AS400 / iSeries
Subject: Re: [WEB400] PHP vs Net.Data
Find people who know it
<G>... that was at the top of my list, followed by, "Find books on it",
"Find Support for It", "Find useful code in it", "Find..."
-Walden
--
Walden H Leverich III
Tech Software
(516) 627-3800 x3051
WaldenL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.TechSoftInc.com
Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.
(Whatever is said in Latin seems profound.)
--
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