perl or php

[DirkG]

I am about to try my hand at coding. But the question comes up - "where to start?"

I see more stuff coming out in php, epowertrader and phptrade plus it has nice ability to make pages change on the fly.
Then there is perl with most of the really powerful programs out there. But is this because it has been around longer? Would the creators of TGSW or AGP used php had they just started creating these projects now?
It would be nice to know both. But I think learning both at the same time would be terribly hard and ineffecient. So what kind of advise can you give me as far as which to start with first?
Are both php and perl capable of creating the same end results in most circumstances?

[Armed & Hammerd]

It depends on what you want to do. PHP is generally better (and faster) for simple tasks. PHP is also LOTS simpler to learn.

Perl is infinitely more powerful and flexible. If you write a script to run under mod_perl it will even outrun PHP. Perl is harder to learn though.

If I were just starting out, I would go with Perl. PHP hasn't been around nearly as long as Perl and therefore isn't quite as bulletproof. Not to mention every newbie programmer out there is doing PHP. I am not sure why so many new programmers opt for PHP, but believe me, newer is NOT better.

[DirkG]

Originally posted by Armed & Hammerd
It depends on what you want to do. PHP is generally better (and faster) for simple tasks. PHP is also LOTS simpler to learn.

Perl is infinitely more powerful and flexible. If you write a script to run under mod_perl it will even outrun PHP. Perl is harder to learn though.

If I were just starting out, I would go with Perl. PHP hasn't been around nearly as long as Perl and therefore isn't quite as bulletproof. Not to mention every newbie programmer out there is doing PHP. I am not sure why so many new programmers opt for PHP, but believe me, newer is NOT better.

I get this feeling also. Thanks for your opinion.
Just down the street from where I live there is a gravel quarry. They have a giant set of christmas lights that they rotate for holidays. Chrismas is a big tree, halloween is a big pumpkin, fall is a cornocopia, the every so often the have an Arm and Hammer. I have NO idea what this could be for. You dont own a rock quarry do you?

[Freakster.net]

I personnaly prefer php.. way easier to program with it..

Now.. it depends on what kind of project you do.. perl/c can be a wizer choice on scripts that run a couple times a second or every couple of seconds like a trade script or a bunch of toplists..

However.. let's say for a program that updates my website daily... does speed really matter? heck no.. then I go php all the way ;)

[Bunnyhop]

I feel PHP is much better....both for web based and server based applications....not as good as C mind you but beats perl hands down (at least for what I do). Mind you I coded perl for three years before using PHP. The only two complains I have about PHP is it's real lack for FTP support (although it's easy enough to code around that) and it isn't very reliable when dealing with grabbing HTML off the net...or more specifically it doesn't seem to communicate well with a lot of the servers out there. Still codable around but if those are two items you really need, perl might be a better alternative.

[Freakster.net]

Originally posted by Bunnyhop
The only two complains I have about PHP is it's real lack for FTP support (although it's easy enough to code around that) and it isn't very reliable when dealing with grabbing HTML off the net...or more specifically it doesn't seem to communicate well with a lot of the servers out there.

I dont know about your case, but that mainly what I do with my php ;) Grab some html, convert it to create my site, create the .html, pics from database, upload, delete, rename etc... works fine for me.. and it makes my life so much more easier ;)

[Nbritt]

I prefer to code in perl but to be honest php is less of a server load. Personally if I was just starting learning I think I would go with php

Brian