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I'm a bit surprised that he didn't mention that PHP has very good documentation - virtually every function has a plain-english description (translated to multiple languages) followed by several usage examples and snippets that solve common real-world issues.

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Yeah, clear documentation was _the_ reason I used php. In fact, it's the same reason jQuery has become my javascript lib of choice. When documentation is complete and centralized like that, the barrier to entry is vastly lower.

Rdoc tries to be that for ruby projects, but it still feels like a step backwards. Google lessens the pain somewhat, but it's still nice to just hit php.net/manual/en or api.jquery.com and find everything I need.

You can also just hit php.net/whatever_you_are_looking_for and it will either redirect to the docs for the most likely function or suggest functions with similar names.

I agree, the PHP documentation is pretty great. And the user notes, while sometimes hit and miss, are usually fairly useful too. Often you'll find someone who's trying to do exactly what you are, and they'll have a way to do it, and then other people will post better ways. It's a pretty cool system.

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