Re: OT: Perl or PHP
On Tue, Dec 05, 2000 at 01:27:02PM +0400, helixfish@gmx.net
wrote:
> hi. sorry for the off-topic post. i'm embarking on a journey
> to be a web developer and would like to know if i should use
> mod.perl or mod.php for cgi? i've searched and read alot of
> faqs and so far they're all just howtos. the only conclusion i
> can come up with is with php u can use it directly with html
> (plus also call it from html code) whereas with perl the only
> way u can use it is to call it from your html code.
>
> am i right with that assumption?
did you ever get a reply here? if not...
mod_perl is perl that's joined-at-the-hip with apache. basically
you have perl itself acting as yuor web server, so you have
access to all your httpd.conf settings via perl code, and it zip
along very very quickly.
there are some major issues to be aware of, since the perl
interpreter never quits (i.e. apache doesn't die at the end of a
cgi script) so your mod_perl scripts have to be more careful
about closing files, cleaning up globals and so forth.
as for php, i'm not too up on that just yet, but there's no
conflict i can see -- if php is the better tool for project X,
use it; if mod_perl is better for project Y, use it instead.
i don't think there's any reason you can't mix the two, either.
cgi scripts, keep in mind, are taken to be files-on-disk that are
executed by an interpreter at request time, whether written in
perl, C or apl. :) mod_perl scripts are actually modifications to
the behavior of your web server. embperl is perl-saturated html,
which is basically a prefilter for perl cgi scripts. php is an
apache-resident interpreter for php scripts, similar to mod_perl
(i think).
so to answer your first question -- a perl CGI script is
effectively run by an interpreter external to your abache web
server (not really, but much effort is put into making it seem
that way). a mod_perl 'script' is a module that's embedded into
the apache server itself, to make it dance and sing per your
instructions. i think php is similar to mod_perl with different
features and different syntax.
use the best tool for the job at hand, i say.
--
It is always hazardous to ask "Why?" in science, but it is often
interesting to do so just the same.
-- Isaac Asimov, 'The Genetic Code'
will@serensoft.com
http://newbieDoc.sourceforge.net/ -- we need your brain!
http://www.dontUthink.com/ -- your brain needs us!
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