Over the last 10 years, Python had two spikes of popularity while Java, JavaScript, C#, and SQL dominated software development. TechRepublic looked at the numbers and talked to a dozen professionals to understand which languages had the biggest impact on the industry. 

Developers favored a few other languages briefly during the 2010s, including Ruby, Swift, and PHP. Java and JavaScript, however, had the biggest impact.
 
This review includes three measures of popularity:

• The Tiobe Index based on search queries 
• Developer surveys from Stack Overflow
• Languages used in technical interviews from Karat 

The Tiobe Index tracks the popularity of programming languages from month to month and year to year based on search queries. The Programming Language Hall of Fame lists the language that had the highest rise in rankings each year:

• 2018 – Python
• 2017 – C
• 2016  – Go
• 2015 – Java
• 2014  – JavaScript
• 2013 – Transact-SQL
• 2012  – Objective-C
• 2011  – Objective-C
• 2010  – Python

Briana Brownell, founder and CEO of the analytics company PureStrategy.ai, said that Python has had the biggest impact in the data science community.

“Machine learning is fast becoming a mainstay of technology, and Python is way ahead in terms
of scientific computing and data analysis,” she said.

Jeff Rouse, vice president of product at ActiveState, said that Python strikes the right balance between ease of use and functional capability.
 
“At the start of the modern AI revolution (circa 2010), Python was suddenly the best candidate to bring machine learning out of academia and into mainstream businesses,” he said. “The result has been an explosion in intelligent automation that has transformed key parts of multiple industries, from fraud detection to customer support (via chatbots/digital voice assistants) to spam filters, and supported solutions are now part of most people’s daily lives.”

Asking developers directly

Stack Overflow has been tracking developers’ habits and coding preferences since 2011 with annual surveys. The first Developer Survey got 2,532 respondents. That year the hot topics were job satisfaction and smartphone wars. In the 2012 survey, the most popular languages were SQL, JavaScript, CSS, C#, and Java. In 2013, SQL was at the top of the list and PHP joined the top 5, replacing CSS. By the middle of the decade in 2015, JavaScript was at the top of the list. 

Transformify CEO Lilia Stoyanov said PHP has had a big influence over the last decade, even if it is already considered outdated. She said many of her clients come to Transformify for help hiring  developers who can work in PHP. 

“It is a widespread language, it’s easy to find developers, and the pay rates are lower,” she said. “I don’t believe that PHP will disappear anytime soon.”

In 2019, almost 90,000 developers took the Stack Overflow survey and the top five list among professional developers looked like this:

1. JavaScript     70%
2. HTML/CSS    63%
3. SQL               57%
4. Python           39%
5. Java               39%

The same five languages ruled the top four spots from 2013 to 2017: JavaScript, SQL, Java, and C#. In 2018, HTML and CSS pushed out C# and Python. 

A cybersecurity researcher and software engineer, Akshay Sharma, said that Java and JavaScript had completely changed the industry in many ways.

“JavaScript made ‘serverless’ architecture possible with languages like NodeJS and AngularJS. Previously, one would’ve never even imagined using a client-side language to serve the purposes of a back-end server,” he said. “This led to not only creation of new jobs but a new way of ‘thinking’ on the programmer’s part when conceptualising software projects: recycling the same technologies but using them for a different purpose.”

Bryan Becker, product manager at WhiteHat Security, said there’s no sign of Java ever going away.

“You can complain as much as you want about Javascript but a lot more people know programming now, which is a good thing,” he said.

Venkat Venkataramani, co-founder and CEO of Rockset, said that SQL is still the language of choice for developers building data-driven applications.

“It is annoying to write custom code in order to glue together a data pipeline and it is also notoriously difficult to learn a bunch of domain-specific query languages for different NoSQL databases,” he said. “Turns out the killer feature that is missing from NoSQL systems is SQL, and this explains the renewed interest in SQL.”

Testing technical skills

The Stack Overflow surveys reflect the languages people are learning and using on the job. The next set of data reveals the data job candidates use during a technical interview.

Karat manages the interview process for companies hiring software engineers. Karat trains experienced engineers to conduct technical interviews and to use an interview platform to record the interview, capture a candidate’s code, and create structured feedback. 

Karat shared these stats from the last three years that reflect language use in technical interviews conducted in a given month.

The company’s VP of Engineering Zach van Schouwen said that Java and Python are the most popular languages for candidates in technical interviews, in part because these languages are most frequently taught in university computer science classes. JavaScript, C#, and C++ tend to be used by more experienced or specialized programmers, so they don’t see the same bumps in the fall interview cycle.

These stats reflect the languages a job candidate used during a technical job interview to complete an assigned task.

Van Schouwen said that the reason for the rise of Python is that it tends to be a preferred language for AI/ML-focused and cloud-native programmers compared to Java. Another reason for Python’s rise in popularity is that it’s a really succinct language. 

“Verbosity is a factor that can trip up engineering candidates using a language like Java—it just takes longer to get through code in a timed environment,” he said.

Josh Vickery, SquareFoot’s vice president of engineering, said that when he graduated in 2002, the dot-com bubble had just burst and he spent nights reverse-engineering the framework he was supposed to be using.

“The market has changed a lot since then; now people are learning frameworks on the job,” he said.

Vickery said when SquareFoot, a real estate technology company, recently started building with Python, he budgeted self-directed learning to bring staff members up to speed.

“A reasonably experienced software engineer can learn on the job without coming to a complete standstill,” he said. “Also, this is the first time I chose a language based on hiring potential.”

Improving security

Alexandre Rebert, co-founder and developer at ForAllSecure, a cybersecurity company, said that an important development in the last decade has been an even stronger focus on security and a push to replace memory unsafe languages like C and C++. 

“This explains, in part, the rise of memory safe languages, like Python, Java, C# or the rise of Go in infrastructure tooling,” he said. “More importantly, Rust has introduced a fundamental new approach to memory safety, offering an alternative to garbage collection for memory management. While still young, the safety concepts introduced in Rust are likely to be a strong influence in the coming decade.”

Becker said the shift left trend is encouraging more developers to use languages that are secure by design. 

“It is really, really hard to program something in Rust that is not secure,” he said.

Other influential languages

Although Ruby and Ruby on Rails do not show up at the top of any of these lists, the language had an impact on the industry. Stephen Fiser of Central Standard Technologies said that what made Ruby on Rails so successful was the concept of “convention over configuration.” 

“Rails pushed the idea that if you stick to simple naming conventions, there is very limited need to configure the set up,” he said. “You can just type a few simple commands and have an entire basic app up and running. This led to massive improvements in efficiency which is essential to launching new products.

Becker also named Ruby and Ruby on Rails as an influential language.

“It was the first framework that was easy to use and that changed web development forever,” he said.

Quinn Slack, co-founder and CEO of the code intelligence company Sourcegraph, said that the most influential programming language of the last 10 years is the multi-language application.  

“Previously, developers would spend years writing code in a single language,” he said. “Now, their applications are a mix of the best frontend language (like TypeScript), the best backend language (Go), the best high-performance language (Rust), the best language for machine learning components (Python) and the languages for mobile applications (Swift, Kotlin, Objective-C, Java, etc.).”

What about the future?

Transformify CEO Stoyanov said recently employers have been looking for blockchain developers and machine learning experts. Employers want people with experience to fill these roles, which is a challenge because the technology is relatively new. Stoyanov predicts this shortage will last at least three more years.
 
“It is much harder to learn machine learning vs. traditional programming languages – it’s not for everyone,” she said. “PHP and Java could be mastered by people with mid-level math skills but machine learning requires advanced math and logic skills.”

Becker of WhiteHat Security is a fan of Rust and believes that Go and Python will continue to be popular.

“Security tools are built in Python and Go—those are great languages to be skilled at,” he said. “Also, Web Assembly is growing in popularity, everyone is excited to see where it is going.”

Rouse at ActiveState, an open source languages company, said Go is a great choice for developers who are interested in making a long-term investment in a language for their long-lived applications.  

“It scales exceedingly well for web services and Go is ideally suited for building a microservices architecture,” he said.

Vlad Ionescu, chief architect at the software company ShiftLeft, sees a need to go back to strongly typed languages to improve security and make maintenance easier. Although it’s easy to build a prototype faster with JavaScript, Python, and Ruby, it’s harder to maintain the code base long-term, he said.

Ionescu names Go and TypeScript as good examples of taking the learnings from both older languages and newer languages and not repeating the same mistakes.  

Calvin French-Owen, co-founder and CTO of Segment, a data integration company, said Golang and Typescript are both rising in popularity.

“Golang is one of those influential languages that has quickly become the ‘swiss army knife’ of building servers and distributed systems and I believe it’s poised to replace most other languages when it comes to concurrent programming,” he said. “TypeScript will help developers tackle programming challenges at scale.”

Vickery of SquareFoot said if you like what you’re doing right now, there’s no reason to pick a new language.
“If someone’s paying you to do it now, there’s probably 10 more people who want to pay you to do it, too,” he said.

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Has it ever happened to you that you try to achieve something but the end result was totally unanticipated?

Sometimes good things are an accident – Electricity, Discovery of America, Gravity, and PHP.

Wait, what?

Actually, PHP was never intentionally designed. Rasmus Lerdorf, a Danish software engineer attempted to design an easy common gateway interface by using the C language that would help him track views on his CV. Little did he know what he had created for such a menial task is going to change the face of web applications.

As for Python, the language has its own fan following spread worldwide.

What is there to see is how these two fare when put under juxtaposition. Yes! We are talking about the popular battle of PHP vs Python.

So, why don’t we begin the first round by discussing what they are, individually?

What is Python?

Well, of course, it’s not a snake (pun intended). 

For real, Python is one of the few best web programming languages for web development that is winning the hearts of many around the world. It is a non-complex object-oriented, high-level, interpreted language, possessing amazing built-in data structures connected with dynamic typing and binding. It is features such as these that make developers choose this language for efficient and effective app development.

What is more, it is a scripting language that is proficient in binding and combining numerous components together. To add another jewel to its crown, it favors cross-platform development, making it ideal for web and mobile app development.

In fact, Python had recently won second place as the most popular language on Github, beating Java to dust and is one of the most loved languages.

Features of Python programming language

Fast in nature

There is no compiling in Python, for the programs are added to the interpreter which runs them directly. This is something that happens for the rest of the programming languages. It is very easy and quick to get access to the feedback on your Python code like recognizing errors, etc. Due to reasons like this, Python has the ability to execute and finish the programs speedily in comparison to other languages.

Supports test-driven development

With Python app development, coding and testing go hand-in-hand, something that is a tried and tested way to the efficacious development process. Developers are able to develop prototypes of the applications as Python allows them to refactor the code.

Amazing standard library

Another probable feature of Python programming language that enabled it to beat Java on Github, is its collection of impeccable libraries. Python’s robust standard library supports the programmers in choosing modules as per the requirements demand. Here every module allows developers to add other multiple functionalities even when the process is about to complete and that too without any additional coding. 

{Bonus- Java vs Python: Who is Winning the Coding Battle?}

Support for Big Data

If you have been looking forward to working on the Big Data technology but aren’t sure what should be in your tool set, then trust me, Python will be all you need to start with. This programming language is being used extensively in Big Data development; simply because it is faster and has a lot of libraries in store, that are in harmony with Big Data.

Highly compatible

Python is the first choice of developers who want to do away with the recompilation process. It is because along with supporting numerous OS like iOS, Android, Windows, etc., it allows developers to use Python interpreters to run the same code on all platforms and even modify it without performing recompilation. And on top of it, it allows programmers to check the code almost instantly when the changes are made.

Advantages of Python 

• Object-oriented and cross-platform programming language
• Portable in nature due to WORA functionality
• Highly readable, making it easy for beginners
• It is open-source, a feature which makes it easily accessible
• It is a constantly evolving language

Disadvantages of Python

• Slightly in-effective in mobile computing and browsers
• Design restrictions: Duck-typing may cause run-time errors
• Delayed testing of web applications
• A little too simple for certain tasks

Popular apps made with Python

What is PHP?

Speaking of the name itself, it has a little kick to it. The acronym does not fully describes its full form which is Hypertext Preprocessor. It is also an open-source scripting language (means a script-based program) that is server-side in nature facilitating web app development.

Additionally, it is possible to embed PHP in HTML to create dynamic web pages for web applications, database apps, and E-Commerce apps. In fact, developers consider it to be a pretty friendly language as it can connect with databases like Oracle, MySQL, etc. 

Features of PHP

Highly flexible and scalable

To be successful, a language should be flexible and scalable enough to give a wiggle room to programmers to have fun, something which PHP clearly offers. It can be easily integrated with other programming languages, namely, Java and others. The components built with this language are reusable.

There are many extensions available to enable different functionalities, that help in defining many kinds of project requirements. 

Fast loading speed

Speed plays a crucial role in making any programming language a favorite of developers. PHP is considered to be a high-speed rendering language as it easily establishes a connection with the database to fetch the requested data in less time as compared to many languages out there in the market.

Supports Cross-platform development

PHP is no way behind Python in catering multiple platforms, i.e, it is also a cross-platform language that helps developers in creating web applications for operating systems such as UNIX, LINUX, Windows, and more. What is more, it also supports Apache and MySQL database. 

Loosely typed language

PHP is denoted as a loosely typed language as it supports variable usage without even declaring its data type. It will be taken at the time of the execution based on the kind of data it has on its value.

Error Reporting

One of the amazing features of PHP is that it has a function that generates a warning notice when something is wrong, allowing the developers to address the issues in real-time.

Advantages of PHP

• Has an enormous ecosystem
• Object-oriented and open-source language with an active community
• Interoperability- has numerous pluggable frameworks
• Supports first-class debugging

Disadvantages of PHP

• Threaded and slower execution
• No Internet of Things community support
• Limited visibility and control
• Externally dependent 

Popular apps made with PHP

Python vs PHP: Battle begins

1. Performance and speed

Speed is often synonymous with great performance in web applications. And in the case of PHP vs Python performance, it is no different.  It is crucial for web apps to perform error-free while processing millions of requests at a time. PHP is considered to be much more effective at speed. Though PHP 5.x was fast, PHP 7.x broke its own records, leaving average Python programs to dust. It completes the tasks almost 3 times faster. 

2. Syntax and code readability

Syntax plays a prominent part as a point of difference between PHP and Python. To be brief, the syntax of PHP kind of resembles that of the C language. The programmers have to be careful and need to use curly brackets, operators, and additional characters. What is more, developers can also ignore the white spaces while the compilation is on-going, bringing the additional usability that will assist in structuring the code into logical components.

As of Python, the syntax is made on the separation of codes with spaces and tabs, expediting the process of coding to a great extent. Moreover, Python’s syntax is readable which makes it easy for beginners to learn it effectively.

3. Price

It is a good thing that both languages are open-source which means nothing but that they are free to use. In fact, developers have advocated that these even though free in nature, maybe better than some of the paid frameworks.

4. Library Support

What gives Python an edge in the battle of PHP vs Python is that it has exceptionally extensive and well-developed library support for all types of Python applications. Some of the most preferred libraries that developers use in Machine learning development along with others are TensorFlow, Theano, Scikit, etc. 

Though PHP is lagging behind, it also has packages repository “Packagist” that is pretty popular among the developers. 

5. Web frameworks

Both PHP and Python have loads of responsive and incredible web frameworks to start with. For Python frameworks, some that stand out the most are Django, Bottle, CherryPy, Pyramid, and more. 

As for PHP frameworks, we have Laravel, Codeigniter, Zend, Symphony, and so on. As both Python and PHP provide a pretty good variety of choices to the developers, beginners are still a little bit more inclined towards Python’s Django framework because it is mighty fast.

6. Debugging

To give you the verdict on this point of comparison of PHP and Python before even diving deep into it, we have to say that it is a draw. 

You ask why? Well, if Python has “Python Debugger” (PDB), a well-documented and facile debugger, then PHP has its “XDebug” package; both offering the most basic debug features – stacks, path mapping, breakpoints, and more. 

7. Front-end feasibility

Web programmers also look forward to developing the layout or the front-end of their websites and portals using numerous effective tools along with languages like Bootstrap, CS, Angular, etc. Python here provides numerous opportunities for the developers to adopt the same techniques and later combine it with Python code by employing frameworks.

This way, designers can easily design websites, whereas the backend developers find it easy to use via a much subtle and understandable language like Python. So, definitely, Python here wins over the PHP. 

8. Usability

It is prominent to consider the architecture of the languages before we conjecture anything in favor of either language. 

The fact that both Python and PHP are object-oriented translate into that they compress code modules containing some functions and data in objects. So, any developer who is even a little bit familiar with object-oriented programming can use either of the languages.

9. Maturity

On the grounds of maturity, Python is inevitably the winner since it was first introduced in 1989 by Guido van Rossum and released in 1991. Its latest update 3.8.0 was released recently on 14 October 2019. It is the most mature and secure among the technologies which make the fundamental building blocks of the intricate mosaic that is the IT industry.

As for PHP, it was created in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf. Though not as mature as Python, it still has created a still in the market with its features. The very first manifestation of PHP was a simplistic set of Common Gateway Interface (CGI) binaries that were written in the C language. The latest version of PHP is 7.2.7. 

10. Package Management

Speaking of Python, its package managers are effective in organizing the code and keeping the backups along with the version numbers. It helps the developers track their progress while helping businesses perform regular updates on the activities.

As of PHP, though is package management, however, it doesn’t match up to the PIP, a tool to manage and install Python packages. It allows developers to install, upgrade, and even uninstall while using a wide range of sources for external as well as internal libraries.

11. Market Popularity

If you want to judge or compare two things, market popularity tops the list of points of comparison, because it indicates why developers and programmers love something.

Looking at this graph above we can surmise that Python is the most searched on the web in the US as compared to PHP.

It has been observed that 7,212,664 websites have been developed using PHP, and as for Python, the number amounts to be 146,702. What is more, PHP is leading in countries like the US, Japan, Germany, and other 150+ countries. In a survey by w3techs.com, as you can see in the graph, it is evident that as of May 29, 2019, PHP was the most popular language based on traffic.

12. Versatility

Python in comparison to PHP is evidently versatile in nature as it is an ideal choice for developing websites integrated with Machine Learning and AI. It comes with an abundance of libraries that support these technologies and facilitate their integration into the web apps.

13. Well-thought-out design

While comparing PHP vs Python for backend, we found that Python, as compared to PHP, is fairly easy to grasp. Python has a well-thought-out-design (refers to the method used to insert code) than PHP. This means that developers find it easy to program for backend with Python than they do with PHP. It is simply because Python is a flexible yet robust programming language, something that PHP lacks.

14. Documentation

Well, it is a draw. Both languages have an abundance of documentation spread across the internet. Any beginner can easily find resources and documents related to any aspect of these languages and can get answers to even the most complicated queries- All thanks to their communities. 

15. Environment Management

Speaking of environment managers, Python is extremely lucky in this regard. There are some terrific breed applications to manage the environment. One such example is Virtualenv – a system that is used to install and use numerous versions of Python simultaneously and switch them as often as needed with ease.

Though PHP also has an analog for Virtualenv known as VirtPHP.  However, it is advised to use containers.

16. Learning Curve

Starting with PHP, being a straightforward language, it has a fairly low learning curve. It is ideal to learn PHP for short-term projects, but if you want to learn something that gives long-term benefits then Python is your match. 

Though on its own PHP is easy to learn, however in comparison to Python, PHP has a steep learning curve for Python is the most readable and easily comprehensible language. It is because the language uses a much simpler syntax.

17. Community Support

Both languages enjoy the support of active communities. It is a crucial aspect for a beginner to consider before committing oneself to a particular language, simply because the learning process is full of doubts and queries and having strong support resolves half the issues.

However, we have to admit that community support of PHP is outstanding, given how actively they have been deprecating the language’s outdated aspects.

18. Salary and Job opportunities

While considering the payscale of both languages, we found that Python developers, on average, make somewhere around $120,024 every year in the United States. Whereas, PHP developers make an average of $86,017 per year.

In fact, you can see in the image above that Python developers, globally make nearly $63k, whereas PHP did not even make it to the list accumulated by Stack Flow.

Final Thoughts

To end this discussion, we would state the most obvious – both languages are differently capable in all aspects. One may surpass the other in one aspect and may lose in others. They both have their own set of features and functions to perform. 

They are a paradox in themselves; there are many similarities between PHP and Python,  and at the same time are dissimilar as well in many aspects.

Nevertheless, Python has emerged to be the winner in most of the comparison points such as documentation, job opportunities, salary, etc. So, it is up to an individual which one they choose based on their requirements.

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“Market Scenario of the PHP Integrated Development Environment (IDE) Software Market:
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Top Key Players Covered in this report – PhpStorm, Eclipse, NetBeans, AWS Cloud9, ActiveState, Selenium, Zend Studio, Angular.io, Aptana Studio, CodeLite, Codelobster, Z-Ray, Koding, UEStudio, Codeanywhere

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In the end PHP Integrated Development Environment (IDE) Software Market Report delivers conclusion which includes Breakdown and Data Triangulation, Consumer Needs/Customer Preference Change, Research Findings, Market Size Estimation, Data Source. These factors will increase business overall.

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PHP is the most popular programming language for web applications. But PHP websites are also among the most targeted by hackers and account for many security incidents.

Snuffleupagus, an open source security module, aims to raise the costs of attacking PHP websites.

Developed by web hosting company NBS System, Snuffleupagus acts as an added layer of defense for PHP applications, intercepting malicious requests that exploit vulnerabilities in the underlying PHP code.

Why Snuffleupagus?

Sysadmins and webmasters have a plethora of tools at their disposal to protect web applications against attacks, including web application firewalls (WAF) and intrusion detection systems (IDS).

But while those tools are useful in their own right, they can’t inspect every detail of PHP applications. Snuffleupagus works directly in the code of PHP applications, which gives it granular visibility and control into the security of the website.

“We wanted something for PHP, to kill low-hanging bug classes in a generic way, so we wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore,” said Julien Voisin, lead developer of Snuffleupagus, in written comments to The Daily Swig, stressing that WAFs can’t detect and fix every vulnerability.

“Sometimes you want to have more granularity, like setting rules for when a function in a file is called with a specific parameter configuration,” Voisin said.

“This isn’t possible if you’re operating at the HTTP level, because you only see web requests, and have no clue about what the application is doing with them.”

Virtual patching

Snuffleupagus enables sysadmins and security teams to harden websites without the need to bother web developers or compromise the development process.

One of the benefits is that Snuffleupagus can push virtual patches on all machines without requiring clients to update their websites or content management systems.

Therefore, even if a client is running an outdated and vulnerable version of a PHP application, Snuffleupagus will still be able to protect it against unpatched vulnerabilities.

“Operating directly inside of PHP makes a big difference,” Voisin said. “For example, Magento doesn’t provide details about vulnerabilities, so previously we had to obtain the patches, understand the changes, understand what vulnerability was fixed, find all the vectors to trigger it, and write WAF rules accordingly.

“With Snuffleupagus, we look at the changes the patches made, and roughly replicate them in Snuffleupagus.”

PHP-exclusive

Before Snuffleupagus, server admins could use Suhosin, a security tool that protected PHP servers against known and unknown vulnerabilities. But Suhosin is outdated and doesn’t work with PHP7.

(Earlier this year, the developers of Suhosin unveiled the Suhosin-NG project, which will be based on Snuffleupagus and aims to bring the project up to speed with the latest PHP build. This is still in development.)

Voisin has detailed how Snuffleupagus can protect PHP servers against a wide range of vulnerabilities in a blog post.

Since Snuffleupagus focuses on PHP code, it will not protect websites against client-side vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. It also won’t help against logical errors in the application’s code.

Snuffleupagus is also exclusive to PHP, which means it won’t be of use to Perl, Python, and other server platforms. It will, however, still apply to millions of websites.

According to BuiltWith, more than 39 million sites run on PHP, including 44% of the top 10,000 websites. Most popular CMS technologies, such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, are based on PHP.

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On October 9, Juliette Reinders Folmer announced on the core WordPress blog that WordPress 5.3 will use the spread operator. The spread operator was one of the new features made available in PHP 5.6, a version released in 2014.

WordPress abandoned PHP 5.2 – 5.5 with the release of WordPress 5.2. This means the core team can start taking advantage of relatively new features, or at least 5-year-old features. For plugin and theme developers who maintain the same minimum version support as WordPress, they can also start exploring this feature.

PHP 5.6 introduced two new methods of using the spread operator:

• A Parameter in variadic functions.
• Function argument unpacking of arrays and traversable objects.

This feature shouldn’t be confused with unpacking inside of arrays, which is only available in PHP 7.4.

The change in WordPress 5.3 is not expected to affect themes and plugins except in the rare case that a developer is overloading the wpdb::prepare() method. Developers should read the announcement post to dive into what code has changed in core WordPress.

Developers should check their plugins and themes with debugging enabled in a test environment to check for any notices. There may be cases where the function signature doesn’t match.

The spread operator is a tool, and like any tool, it should be used when it makes sense. Because it is a language construct, it does offer speed improvements over traditional methods of using a PHP function.

The remainder of this post will dive into the using the spread operator to help teach WordPress developers how it works.

Creating a Variadic Function with the Spread Operator

Variadic functions are PHP functions that accept a variable number of arguments passed in. They have existed for years. However, they can be confusing without solid inline documentation from the developer who wrote the code.

In the past, developers would need to use the func_get_args(), func_get_arg(), or func_num_args() functions to work with variadic functions. In PHP 5.6, developers can use a parameter such as ...$var_name to represent a variable number of parameters.

Take a look at the following multiplication function. It will accept one, two, three, or even more numbers and multiply each.

function tavern_multiply( ...$numbers ) {

$total = 1;

foreach ( $numbers as $number ) {

$total = $total * intval( $number );

}

return $total;

}

If we use that function as shown below, it will display 1024:

echo tavern_multiply( 2, 4, 8, 16 );

This is simple to do with the spread operator.

Unpacking Arrays as Function Arguments

PHP 5.6 allows developers to unpack arrays and traversable objects as function arguments. To explain how this works, look at the following multiplication function for multiplying three numbers together.

function tavern_multiply_three( $x, $y, $z ) {

return $x * $y * $z;

}

Generally, you would need to manually pass the $x, $y, and $z parameters directly. However, there are cases in real-world projects where the data (numbers in this case) would already exist within an array such as:

$numbers = [ 3, 6, 9 ];

Prior to PHP 5.6, you would need to split that array and pass each value to the function as shown in the following snippet.

echo tavern_multiply_three( $numbers[0], $numbers[1], $numbers[2] );

With PHP 5.6, you can simply pass in ...$numbers like so:

echo tavern_multiply_three( ...$numbers );

Both methods work and will output 162. However, the second method is easier to read and is less prone to typos because it uses fewer characters.

Comparing Code Changes in WordPress

For a more practical example, let’s compare a real-world code change in WordPress and how using the spread operator improves the code over other methods. We can do this by looking at the core current_user_can() function.

First, see how the code is written in WordPress 5.2 and earlier.

function current_user_can( $capability ) {

$current_user = wp_get_current_user();

if ( empty( $current_user ) ) {

return false;

}

$args = array_slice( func_get_args(), 1 );

$args = array_merge( array( $capability ), $args );

return call_user_func_array( array( $current_user, 'has_cap' ), $args );

}

Without looking at the full function, most developers would assume that $capability is the only accepted parameter for this function. However, the function accepts a variable number of parameters. Previously, WordPress had to use func_get_args() to get all the parameters, slice the array, and merge everything back together.

It is inelegant coding, but it got the job done for old versions of PHP.

Now compare what the same function looks like in WordPress 5.3. First, you can see the ...$args parameter clearly in the function statement. You can also see there is no need for the clever coding to pass along a variable number of arguments.

function current_user_can( $capability, ...$args ) {

$current_user = wp_get_current_user();

if ( empty( $current_user ) ) {

return false;

}

return $current_user->has_cap( $capability, ...$args );

}

The change in WordPress 5.3 is a massive improvement in readability in comparison to earlier versions. It is nice to see these types of improvements to the core code.

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The contemporary web development industry has become quite dynamic and advanced. Developers leverage multiple programming tools and languages for creating wonderful websites that are user-friendly and responsive.

But the task of choosing the best tech stack on which to launch your online portal is quite daunting. In the programming sphere, there are a plethora of alternatives, but picking one should be done cautiously. PHP and Java are two coding languages that are equally popular and powerful enough to facilitate seamless web development.

To help you make the choice, we thought it would be best to provide a complete outline of both of these languages so that you can understand their specific pros and cons. This know how will allow you to make a well-informed decision. So, let’s explore each of them one-by-one and compare different features in detail to provide a comprehensive idea.

PHP or Hypertext PreProcessor: An Open Source Server-Side Scripting Tool for Building Responsive Web Portals

PHP is a general-purpose web development language that is one of the most popular server-side scripting tools based on HTML. This platform is quite fast and considered as the best option for building dynamic web pages.

PHP offers a variety of efficient frameworks that are ideal for creating responsive websites, as well as REST APIs. These web frameworks are extremely fast and productive. Also, each of these follows only the best practices of web development.

As it is open source and object-oriented in nature. PHP is an affordable option for getting responsive sites built quickly. Also, an extensive community helps in seamless web development and maintenance. PHP is compatible with multiple database management systems such as MySQL, Oracle, IIS, MariaDB, Apache, etc.

Working with efficient PHP developers allows you to create reliable, as well as platform-independent, web apps. This language facilitates seamless file processing, large database management, arrays, data processing, file uploads, etc. The most recent version of this language comprises an error handling module and it can perform efficiently on multiple operating systems.

PHP is the preferred start-up programming tool for developing websites that are scalable, customizable, and flexible. Also, it’s easier to work with this language and this is the reason why it’s one of the hot favorites of developers.

Java: A Client-Based Programming Language, Best for Building Enterprise-Grade Web Apps & Cloud-Based Data Warehouses

Java is an object-oriented and cost-efficient platform that is appropriate for larger and enterprise-grade web development. Also, Java is blessed with a Virtual Machine that makes it fast and capable of performing effortlessly on multiple operating systems.

Java is blessed with a quite extensive library and it also has vast community support that is fully loaded with expert Java developers, default design patterns and web development best practices. It helps programmers in solving their doubts and developing high-end web apps from scratch. Java developers can also seek help from online forums in order to solve any difficulty.

Moreover, web programmers well-versed with this popular coding language have extensive experience in developing a cloud-based data warehouse architecture which helps in seamless storage and management of all the data held by your organization. Also, these solutions are becoming even more popular because they are pocket-friendly, easy to set-up and scalable.

Along with efficient data warehousing, Java has integrated the best security features that, in turn, make it the best alternative for the client-server’s data exchange. In addition, it’s an easy-to-learn platform that allows web developers to easily perform coding and debugging. Java is the most popular programming tool for web development companies that want to work on larger projects.

Java is not that fast as PHP but it’s equally popular among web developers for building enterprise-grade and high-end web apps. Let’s compare these two platforms based on diverse features to spot the major difference:

1. Optimization for Speed & Quality Performance

Java and PHP are known to be two of the fastest web development platforms that are efficient and reliable. PHP is slightly quicker than Java, but that doesn’t make the latter any weaker a contender.

2. Ease of Learning & Support

Both of these programming languages are easy to learn and master. But in terms of support, PHP has the upper hand in comparison with Java. However, Java is blessed with the best security features that give it an edge over the former.

3. Price & Compatibility

PHP is an open source platform hence it’s free of cost, but this isn’t the case with Java. Although, both of these platforms are platform-independent, PHP has the advantage of being more compatible.

4. Checking Type

PHP leverages Dynamic type checking whereas Static type checking is the employed in Java. But as the latter allows developers to spot errors and bugs in the initial stages of web development, it can be called as the one with an edge regarding this functionality.

5. Multiple Instruction Implementations

PHP leverages multi-threaded execution, but Java makes use of thread-to-thread implementation of numerous instruction series. Here also, Java has an upper hand because memory sharing in the inter-thread implementation is quicker than an analogous multi-thread instruction.

Deciding Which Is the Best: A Difficult Call to Make

Considering the features and functions each of these two programming platforms offer, concluding that one is better in a given situation could be a bit unfair. Java is a client-based language whereas PHP is a server-side scripting platform. Hence, these two have their own pros and cons. Also, both of these languages have unique features that are extremely useful for web developers.

However, when forced to make a choice you can consider the kind and size of your web app development project to determine which programming language would be the perfect fit. Also, your budget and other resources in hand will play a crucial role in deciding the tech stack for your upcoming web development project.

So, it would be better not to pick randomly but have a discussion with expert developers and evaluate software developers’ resumes for making a smart choice that you won’t regret in the future. Invest some time and see how experienced programmers can cherry-pick the best language for converting your idea into a fully functional and high-end web app.

Considering the dynamism in the software industry, it can’t be said that either PHP or Java would be the best choice for seamless web development. Both of these are powerful and efficient platforms for creating feature-rich and large web apps with few technical hurdles. Finding the right programming team is what you should look for if you want to build a responsive online presence to market your venture and establish credibility to connect with a diverse customer base.

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Recent Crunchbase News analysis found that software professionals at some of the most-funded “unicorn” startups can earn well into the six figures. It’s no wonder, then, why hiring and subsequently paying engineers is one of the largest costs incurred by scaling software businesses.

Since the dawn of the software industry, hiring remote has always been an option. The challenge, so often, is quality. We’ve all heard horror stories of development projects gone wrong under the aegis of outsourced teams.

Terminal is a San Francisco-based startup trying to do something a little different. Part technical recruiter, part office-space manager, and part HR administrator, the company helps its clients spin up and run remote software engineering teams where high-quality talent can be obtained for less.

Here’s the basics of the model: Terminal builds remote software engineering teams for fast-growing technology companies. Terminal is the employer and facilitates payroll, perks, and benefits. Its clients, in turn, pay Terminal by the month for their teams. In the event that a client terminates its relationship with Terminal, they have the option to convert their Terminal-managed team to one they manage themselves. “If the client chooses not to convert the engineer, Terminal works with the employee to place them in other opportunities within the Terminal family,” the company said in response to Crunchbase News’s questions

“Developers and programmers love building their careers in an engineer-centric community working on world-changing products,” said Terminal’s CEO, Clay Kellogg, in a statement. “We’re offering them a vibrant community with all of the HR resources, benefits and perks that they can get if they worked in Silicon Valley—without having to leave their hometown. This funding means we can provide exciting growth opportunities to even more engineers around the world,” he added.

Today, the company unveils $17 million in new funding led by 8VC. Participating investors include Atomic, Cathay Innovation, Cherubic Ventures, Craft Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and others.

The startup was co-founded by venture investors. Joe Lonsdale, co-founding general partner at the firm, launched Terminal alongside Jack Abraham, the managing partner of Atomic, a “venture fund that founds companies.” Terminal hosts remote development teams for a couple Atomic portfolio companies: Bungalow and Hims (which is also in 8VC’s portfolio). Other companies which use Terminal’s services include Dialpad, Eventbrite, and Gusto.

The deal brings Terminal’s total known funding to $30 million. The company raised $10 million in its Series A round in May 2018, and a $3 million seed round back in March 2017.

Terminal has a number of “campuses” throughout North America. The company has locations in Canadian cities like Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Kitchener-Waterloo. Additionally, it has a location in Guadalajara, Mexico. Engineers working out of Terminal’s various offices have the amenities one would typically expect of a tech company office: lots of coffee, weekly catered lunches, and a calendar of social and professional events.

The company says it intends to expand to “more than 10 cities globally” over the next two years.

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The European Space Agency (ESA) selected AdaCore, a provider of software development and verification tools, to provide a qualified multitasking solution for spacecraft software development to support multiple ongoing and future ESA projects.

As part of this contract, AdaCore has implemented a pre-qualified version of the Ravenscar Small Footprint (SFP) library — a configurable Ada run-time library that implements the Ravenscar profile, allows customization for specific platforms and capabilities, and is suitable for qualification in different domains, particularly those in which certification or a reduced footprint is needed.

“Reliability of mission-critical software is a key factor for ESA satellite missions,” said Mark Dean, Software Engineer, European Space Agency. “We are confident that AdaCore’s tools and run-time environment are able to provide a solid base for the development and qualification of such applications. The recent cooperation between ESA and AdaCore to pre-qualify the generic elements of AdaCore’s Ravenscar SFP run-time towards the European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) software standards ensures these tools are readily available to the European space industry and offers a clear path towards software qualification on a number of upcoming missions.”

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PostcardMania, a $59 million Inc. 500 marketing firm, recently increased their in-house software development team to accommodate the growing demand for automated direct mail, now available via their proprietary API integration. This integration will be immediately available to 238 CRMs as well as other data companies.

This API integration will allow business owners to incorporate real, direct mail touches into their marketing media mix and automated pipeline with a simple, one-time setup via their chosen platform. For example, users of Salesforce will be able to send all new leads entering the system a physical postcard in the mail for as little as $0.55 without any quantity minimums or ongoing work or maintenance — after the initial (and free) integration and setup, the system and integration will operate automatically and continuously.

Created for SAAS companies, CRMs, franchises, data providers, and marketing technology platforms, PostcardMania’s direct mail API integration offers an integrated print collateral solution without any upfront investment in print manufacturing or delivery.

Since the integration was revealed in June, inquiries from tech companies searching for a new, higher-quality direct mail integration have come in almost daily. Unlike PostcardMania, most direct mail integrations on the market today are exclusively technology platforms and not commercial printers or direct mail marketers. Without a means to deliver the print requests received from end users, existing integrations instead outsource printing to a nationwide network, resulting in lower quality control.

To handle the increased demand, PostcardMania’s Platform Development Division brought on additional software developers, expanding their current team size by 50%. Together, they will spearhead ongoing and upcoming technology developments and integrations.

CEO Joy Gendusa comments on her technology division’s expansion, saying, “It’s been a long-time coming that we’re offering on-demand print solutions for tech companies and marketing platforms. There’s a wave of programmatic print companies popping online, but none of them offer the level of quality control we have, which comes from 21 years of printing 1.8 billion postcards in-house.”

Clients that interface with PostcardMania’s software also take advantage of discounted direct mail pricing, an on-site United States Postal Service rep and clearing facility to expedite delivery, and an end-user friendly dashboard that has been several years in the making.

Gendusa commented further, “We don’t just slap postcard designs online, print them and call it a day. PostardMania has never been just a printer. We’re a marketing company, so each and every web page, UI, and direct mail design that we create is based on 87,000 clients, and 239,396 campaigns, so that we provide online-accessible marketing products that produce results and ROI.”

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