The latest version of PHP is optimized for OOP — Object Oriented Programming. Is that a good thing? Certainly, OOP has the center stage in modern programming, and may be an improvement in computer programming. But is it right for PHP?
Let’s go back in our collective history a bit. PHP was created to make it easier for webmasters to integrate server-side functionality into web pages. Combined with MySQL it created a wonderful platform for database driven websites.
So what does any of this have to do with OOP? Nothing. OOP is for programming — writing lower-level programs to do all the wonderful things we can do with computers. Certainly OOP is a step forward for C++ and JAVA and other programming languages, but does it belong in a SCRIPTING environment like PHP? I don’t think so.
Object Oriented Programming uses inheritance and other advanced features to give the programmer the ability to get more work done with less code, and to reuse code more efficiently. But in web scripting, our needs are more modest, and less complicated. Originally most web scripting was done in PERL, but PHP was easier and had as much or more functionality, so it soon replaced PEARL. Now, hosting services are reluctant to upgrade to PHP5 because it has gone too far.
I think PHP5 should have been renamed XPHP for extended php, and branched off as a new programming language — leaving the old PHP scripting language to continue to develop independently, focused on EASE OF USE, rather than technical functionality. PHP was originally designed for Webmaster — not programmers. Let them have their own version of PHP, and leave us with something that makes our life easier, rather than more complex.
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