Ask HN: Should I code my next project in PHP or Ruby? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Should I code my next project in PHP or Ruby?

8 pointsC1D21 comments

Hello, I'm a PHP developer and I'm working a new video hosting project and was wondering if I should learn Ruby and then code it in that or just use what I'm good at, PHP. Thanks :)

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If you can do it in php do it. Don't waste your time learning another language. Focus on your product, not on what the average geek says.

Yes. I learned it hard way.

I had this dilemma while back. I decided to suck it up and learn Ruby and Rails. I now realized that I hate PHP and have used rails, django, and play for all of my web applications and have not looked back.

If you are in a learning mood, I'd say go with rails.

Personally, I prefer Ruby to PHP. But:

If the point is to build the video hosting project, and you are productive using PHP, then that's probably the best option.

If the point is to increase the breadth of your development skills while building the video hosting project, choosing a new language like Ruby might make sense.

If you've identified a specific technical challenge in what you want to do that makes PHP problematic, investigating alternatives (including different languages, though that's probably not the first thing to look at) for that particular problem also makes sense.

Well I want to become a better programmer and also work on a project for fun so I think Ruby would be good as it would expand my knowledge of programming. EDIT: I think I'm going to go with node.JS

In that case, do it. That's exactly what I did to learn Ruby. I came from php and have never looked back. I suggest using Rails on top of Ruby.

Code is code - it's the concepts behind it that matter. If this is going to paying project then go PHP - it's what you know and you'll be able to get it done faster and probably with higher quality. If this is just a project for your own gratification then I suggest Ruby - or Node.js or Haskell or Erlang or 8086 Assembler or ... It doesn't matter. When you are your own client you do what you need to do to make you happy. Doing something because we busy bodies on HN think you should ultimately does nothing for my happiness or yours.

I have allot of spare time and I think starting this project would be a good idea to use my time. I think I'm going to with what language I really like, which is node.js.

Alternatively, you could learn to use a framework instead of a whole new language. I've been using Laravel for a while now, and it's awesome!

I was in the same boat as you a few months ago.

Then I thought to myself. I wonder if Zuckerberg back in 2004 asked himself that.

If Facebook is capable of running the most popular website in the world successfully on PHP, then it'll probably be good enough for me!

My vote goes for PHP. Stick with what you know.

I was in the same shoes, and I decided to learn Rails. I haven't looked back since, but then again, I was in a startup and wanted to walk out with some new skills.

Rails is great, not for everything, but it does make standing up a new site pretty darn easy. Personally, I won't touch PHP again if I have my choice.

Thanks for that :) I'm looking into RoR but I don't know where to learn it, can you give any suggestions? Also does RoR have support with mongo? EDIT: I think I'm going to go with node.JS

Probably the best place where to start is http://guides.rubyonrails.org/ and http://railscasts.com/ .

http://railsforzombies.org/

I'll just reiterate what other people have already said: If this is a serious project then stick with what you know. By all means, learn Ruby by using it for some side projects, but don't use it for serious projects until you really understand it or you'll just end up writing bad code.

Ruby (or my recommended choice of Python) is likely going to take you longer in the short term than PHP is. But you'll probably save some time with maintenance and new features in the future, and learn something new.

So, if you're not in a big rush, I'd learn a better language than PHP.

Nothing wrong with PHP, just use what you know and are good at.

"Nothing wrong with PHP" is a comment to start a huge debate.

Haha, yeah, I know. It's kind of a sweeping dismissal of most of those arguments. PHP is not cool but it's still good at getting a job done.

If you're comfortable with PHP, and have previously used it in some other project, do it with PHP. Because if you learn a new language now, you'll lose a lot of time.

Ruby on Rails. It saves you so much time and its beautiful.

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