JSP vs PHP vs other(?)

[David Demner]

I'm looking to do a small web project on Linux, and was wondering if I could have opinions as to which technology I should use? I'm not familiar with PHP but have used lots of Perl, and not familiar with JSP although I've used lots of Java. Are there any others out there?
It's sort of a multi-part question:
- Which technology has the better development tools available?
- Which has a faster development cycle or leads to more manageable code?
- Which technology is better supported in the 'real world'?
Also, if I go the JSP route, should I use Tomcat or something else to serve the jsps?
Since this is a JSP forum, I'm expecting lots of 'jsp is way better' responses, so I've also posted to a PHP forum
Thanks!
David

[Darryl A. J. Staflund]

Hi David,
This question has been discussed in different ways in a number of different threads (particularly by Gregg Bollinger and I). Check out:
https://coderanch.com/t/282883/JSP/java/JSP-Servlet-VS-PHP
https://coderanch.com/t/46778/Struts/Defining-characteristics-DispatchAction-class
Hope this helps.
Darryl
[ July 29, 2003: Message edited by: Darryl A. J. Staflund ]
[ July 29, 2003: Message edited by: Darryl A. J. Staflund ]

[ah hofelt]

Hello David,
The technology (jsp,php) you use is dependent upon the project. If this is an enterprise project which will not change once in place use Java/JSP.
If the project is going to change/evolve in the future, doesn't need complicated database programming, and needs to be done ASAP use PHP.
The development cycles are around 1:4 for a new project. The php version will be done 4 times quicker (at least). JSP's are Java's ugly sister, they are really a language in themselves. They are tougher to develop in than any other language. Java has now admitted as much. They are writing an standard interface with PHP to allow PHP to replace JSP. I theorize no one will be using JSP's in about 3 years.
Cheers,
ah

[Thomas Paul]

Originally posted by ah hofelt:
They are tougher to develop in than any other language. Java has now admitted as much. They are writing an standard interface with PHP to allow PHP to replace JSP. I theorize no one will be using JSP's in about 3 years.

I theorize that this is a crank call. There is a JSR underway to allow php to integrate with Java applications. You can read about it here: http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=223 This is not specific to PHP. The announcement that ah is talking about is that Zend has been added to the list of participants in this JSR.
Why would anyone think that JSP is tougher to develop than any other language? JSP's are actually fairly simple. Writing a poorly designed non-MVC application (like a php application, for example) is just as easy as doing the same thing in PHP or ASP. And it is just as hard to support in the long run as a php application. It does take longer to design and develop an easy to maintain and scalable JSP application but you are comparing apples to oranges.
Why is it that every time PHP is mentioned, it brings out the crank calls? This reminds me of the Java enthusiasts on the .NET forums. I can only assume that it is insecurity in that they fear that their language is doomed and are attempting to save it by converting people to their side.
[ July 31, 2003: Message edited by: Thomas Paul ]