Archive for Other Paperswithout synopsis

The case against function overloading in PHP

Ever since type hinting was added to PHP in an attempt to make it behave more like a statically typed language there have been calls from a growing number of developers to add "proper" function overloading so that it works like it does in those other languages. This article argues that function overloading was the solution to a problem which exists in all statically typed languages, but as PHP is dynamically typed it does not have the same problem therefore does not need the same solution.

Published: 18 July 2023

RE: Why PHP is not suitable for enterprise grade web applications

I came across an article which claimed that PHP is not suitable for writing enterprise applications, but as I have been doing just that for the past 20 years I feel I have to challenge every one of his arguments.

Published: 11 July 2023

The case against static typing in PHP

PHP has always been dynamically typed, but over the years there has been a gradual movement to make it more statically typed. At first this was optional, but this is now becoming mandatory. This article explains why this is a bad move which will bring nothing but grief to the hordes of application developers due to the amount of code that will break and the huge amount of effort that will be required to fix it.

Published: 26 June 2023

Is there a case for adding namespaces to PHP core?

Ever since namespaces were added as an option to PHP there have been calls to force PHP to use namespaces for all internal functions and classes. This article describes why this idea is totally pointless and without merit.

Published: 08 April 2023

The PHP core developers are lazy, incompetent idiots

With the release of PHP version 8.1 the PHP core developers have chosen to break backwards-compatibility on an enormous scale for no good reason. This article identifies what they have done and explains why it is BAD!

Published: 13 February 2023

Changing Fundamental Language Behaviors

There has been a lot of arguments lately within the @internals group about things that some people regard as bad and which should be removed from the language. Some people agree with the removals as they would make the language more "pure" and therefore acceptable to "proper" programmers, while others say they do no harm, have been used without issue for over 20 years, and would cause major disruptions for large numbers of websites which would suddenly stop working. This is my personal view on this touchy subject, and it is a view shared by others.

Published: 16 August 2019

Blockchain for Blockheads

Blockchains are being hyped as "the next BIG thing", and as usual with hype there is a lot of confusion. Here I provide answers to some of the basic questions that are asked.

Published: 23 June 2018

BC break in 7.2 caused by undocumented and unauthorised change

BC breaks are annoying, but the worst are those which suddenly appear without any warning whatsoever. This is one such break which made me VERY annoyed!

Published: 15 June 2018

Please do not break our language

This is my response to the idea that the next major release of PHP - version 7 - should contain as many Backwards Compatibility breaks as possible.

Published: 31 December 2014

4+ Reasons Why All PHP Frameworks Suck - Except RADICORE

This is a response to an article written by Manuel Lemos called "4 Reasons Why All PHP Frameworks Suck?"

Published: 17 February 2014

Stored Procedures are EVIL

Here are some reasons why I choose not to use database stored procedures and triggers.

Published: 03 September 2006

Software Patents are EVIL

Are software patents a good thing or a bad thing? Here is my personal opinion.

Published: 31 August 2006

Is Radicore better than Ruby On Rails?

Ruby On Rails is the subject of an immense amount of hype, but are there parts of it which are less than perfect and open to improvement? Do these "improvements" already exist within Radicore?

Published: 28 May 2006

Are you a Code Monkey?

In days gone by an organ grinder's monkey danced to his master's tune. A "code monkey" is someone who dances to someone else's tune, someone who is a follower, not a leader.

Published: 17 March 2006

Case Sensitive Software is EVIL

People who call for more case sensitivity in PHP just to be "consistent" with other languages do not understand that by perpetuating a bad idea they are simply being "consistently bad".

Published: 27 January 2006

Breaking Backwards Compatibility is EVIL

A small number of thoughtless programmers are changing the language in the name of "code purity", but instead of improving the language all they are doing is turning thousands of users off by causing existing scripts to break and thus slow down the migration to PHP 5.

Published: 18 December 2005

Development Standards - Limitation or Inspiration?

Standards are supposed to represent "best practice", to inspire others to produce great works, but some are so badly written that all they do is create artificial restrictions, limitations and obstructions and actually get in the way of making progress.

Published: 29 May 2005

Component Design - Large and Complex vs. Small and Simple

When designing application components there is a very important choice to be made up front - do you use a small number of large, complex components, or a large number of small, simple ones.

Published: 30 June 2001