I'm a longtime database developer, starting my first web 2.0 app. After much research (including Python, node.js, Go, Perl, Ruby, etc.) I've all but locked on PHP. While I can see that it has idiosyncrasies, I can also see that it's a very mature product.
For example, when I search for "PHP function list", I not only get a function list as the first item, it's an amazingly comprehensive list. The hurdles I've had so far, I've been able to jump over them quickly (quicker than in any other language I've learned) if only because the community support is so good. Usually a simple web search finds the question and answer I'm looking for. I'm pretty blown away by the sheer volume of good info on PHP.
Python is my second choice. There's a lot that I prefer of it, over PHP, but I find that in general its hurdles are higher.
Having developed many industrial-strength apps using less-capable languages, I'm confident I can do the same in PHP.
For example, when I search for "PHP function list", I not only get a function list as the first item, it's an amazingly comprehensive list. The hurdles I've had so far, I've been able to jump over them quickly (quicker than in any other language I've learned) if only because the community support is so good. Usually a simple web search finds the question and answer I'm looking for. I'm pretty blown away by the sheer volume of good info on PHP.
Python is my second choice. There's a lot that I prefer of it, over PHP, but I find that in general its hurdles are higher.
Having developed many industrial-strength apps using less-capable languages, I'm confident I can do the same in PHP.