I believe what you are looking for in PHP is a Framework like Zend Framework (and yes it truly is open source and anyone can download it and use it without paying the Mothership a dime). Zend Framework is built in 100% OO PHP so there is nothing more to learn than the base language and OO.
ZF as well as some of the others have data abstraction, MVC support and is a use at will framework. Which means, you can grow into it using bits and pieces as you go.
One thing I hope you all consider is that PHP does not have strict rules on how to develop applications. This leads to a lots of options but also a lot of confusion on where to start. IMHO: A green screen RPG programmer who has never developed OO or for the web should really consider getting started with procedural PHP. And the community ois OK with that!!! If you have some OO then that is a good place to start, especially for recovering Java developers. Yes, we have a 12-step program for you :-) For those steeped in OO and methodologies, Zend Framework may be to your liking. Like PHP it is the best of both worlds as it is open source but you can get commercial support for it from Zend. And like PHP, if you don't like how something is done, you can contribute to the code base to change it. I have had two IBM I customers who having contributed to the ZF code base for IBM i. ZF also comes with a LOT of the code features that make mundane coding a snap. Certainly worth a look!
Regards,
Mike
mike.p@xxxxxxxx Cell: (408)679-1011 Office: (815)722-3454
Zend Server for IBM i Beta avilable at
http://www.zend.com/en/products/server/zend-server-5-new-ibmi
-----Original Message-----
From: web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Thorbjoern Ravn Andersen
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 2:38 PM
To: Web Enabling the AS400 / iSeries
Subject: Re: [WEB400] Why use PHP? What are the disadvantages?
Den 19/04/10 18.23, Aaron Bartell skrev:
That is a bit like saying RPG was created to output reports and can't be
used to produce web pages. Do you see the flaw in your argument? PHP is
much more today than it was even 5 years ago.
I have no experience with the PHP of today, but if there is one thing I
have learned, it is that you need an abstraction layer on top of HTML
and Javascript to make it scalable and maintainable. Like JSF in Java
which allows you to say "I need a form which links to this Java code,
and with these fields, and that field over here must be validated
against a database etc. etc." and then generate the necessary code.
Is this the case in PHP of today?
midrange.com
