A common question I get asked is ‘Which is better, Windows or Mac?’. The programming version of this question is ‘Which is better .Net or Open Source?’. Both of these questions are just hard to answer because it really is determined by what you know and what you want to do with them.
I started out as a PERL based programmer but not by design. It just happened to be the right language for the task at hand. Programming as a task actually is rather tedious to me but something I enjoy once over the hump of getting started. As time has progressed, my jobs have transferred me into more of an ASP mindset of programming as I hang on to my PERL roots. All linear scripting languages pull on the same roots in just different ways. As they transition to Object Orientated Programing structures they start to differ greatly.
Some programmers swear by .Net for it’s rapid implementation and large set of pre-programmed classed. PHP programmers are quick to point out the huge cost of getting .Net running and the similar class and object structures in PHP5. But something is getting lost along the way.
As we all look at the holy wars of code, some programmers are forgetting the task at hand. Their blind devotion to .Net may lead them to not consider the advantages that PHP may offer. PHP zealots are quick to dismiss .Net but sometimes don’t realize the large set of objects might speed their production along.
My view on either language is that they are just that; languages. Stop looking at them as solutions. Look at the problem at hand to fit the best language solution to them. As much as I can say ‘I Love You’, ‘J’amie vous’ just sounds better and works as more of an all encompassing concept for me when I use it. It’s solves my problem of what I want to express. Apply that thought to your programming skills and you will find that new and varied ways of programming will open up to you.
Thanks for writing this.