Web 2.0 development – C++ vs. Java vs. PHP vs. Python

Ok, it the last month I’ve used every one of these languages and most of them for the same project.  Some highlights:

• Java — decompilers are very useful in reverse engineering
• C++ — std::string in naive use sucks for performance (wrote a pooled string ala Java String — performance increased by 10x)
• Python – is easy to extend in C or C++
• PHP – has the best web frameworks
• Python – the spaces thing is prone to error, it really is hard to add addtional conditionals and insure that you got all of a if/for/… loop
• PHP & Python – Lists are good as a basic structure
• Python – As far as I can tell, it’s not a true lambda
• PHP – Lax typing, both good and bad…
• C++ – when it’s right, it rocks for performance
• Java – a good way to rapidly build app and algs that work
• Java – it’s easy to over object an API
• C++ – boost is your friend, but it comes with a cost
• Python – documentation is almost one step below C++ in quality — long topic around virtuous circles and how Java/PHP rock for docs.
• Python – has the libraries that PHP only wishes it had, written by people who know what a library should look like.

What’s the upshot…

• Use PHP to build web front ends — the ability to find a PHP programmer is pretty easy, odds are it’s not going to make/break your application.
• Use simple RPC mechanisms (e.g. JSON RPC) to Python back ends for the heavy lifting — lots of choices here, but odds are it’s not going to make much difference.
• Extend your Python with C++ for the computational parts of your heavy lifting — think peep hole optimization.

I used to think that using Java as a back end was the “only” way, but it’s more like the “cult of Java” vs. the “cult of …”, I’m not into religion just getting a job done.   When it needs to be fast both languages will get it there, but you have to remember to spend your time optimizing only where it counts…