[thelist] What tools should I use?

[Ian Anderson]

Matt Warden wrote:

>Ian,
>
>I'm following you and agreeing up until this point:
>  
>
Umm, Matt... that's only the first three lines

Oh well.

>Just because it is pre-installed on the PC, doesn't mean the cost
>should be dismissed. You still pay for it, and it should be factored
>into the total cost of developing with Windows-only technology.
>  
>
I don't know where you are going with this. The idea presented was that 
to start developing with ASP/IIS/SQLServer you are going to have to lay 
out vast hidden costs in seats, which isn't the case.

>Major OSS solutions do not have this problem. It is only fair to
>compare major OSS solutions with MS solutions. And, in my experience,
>MS's documentation could learn a few things from that of the major OSS
>solutions out there.
>  
>
I was referring to PHP and MySQL specifically. It's a subjective 
opinion, but too often you have to go to 3rd party sites to get the 
basic facts about these.

>>For example, older
>>MySQL doesn't support subqueries. It cost me two days to find this out
>>    
>>
>
>Why's that? The issue is VERY well documented.
>  
>
Not frickin well enough for this puppy... Yes, I found out in the end. 
 From a third party site.

>
>Two different versions of code? I might review how modular my code is
>if I were you.
>  
>
Cheap shot... :) Yes, I would code a function. No, I'm not happy about 
having to write conditional code for grabbing a frickin variable.

>You do not have to specify a table type in MySQL. It has a default.
>  
>
PHPMyAdmin makes it look like you should have an opinion. You know it 
has a default, but it's news to me.

Griping aside, I did a job this week working with a guy who set all the 
database selects up using PEAR db classes; really nice to work with once 
you get your head round the daft -> syntax for object properties.

I do like some bits of PHP, but overall LAMP sometimes feels like a 
low-end, duck tape environment. Ironically, the most recent headache 
came from running the PHP mail function on a Windows server with \n 
escaped characters in the strings. Yes, it tells you in the PHP manual 
you need \r instead, and once I read the same damn page a hundred and 
fifty times it sunk in. Would it kill the SMTP server to return error 
codes back to the web app?

Thanks for the feedback though, Matt, kind of gives me hope to keep 
plugging away at it.

Cheers

Ian