It depends :) It depends on the developers involved, the problem that is being solved, how complex the web site or application is going to be. In all fairness, us Java developers tend to use our sledgehammer to do just about anything and look down on those who may have chosen a better tool for a specific job. Even if it was an accident.

Here are some areas where Java does a better job:

• Integration between multiple systems.
• Tooling is better on the language side for Java.
  
• Java based frameworks tend to promote a better separation of the model, view and controllers. This will vary based on the developers involved. You can have well separated PHP. I have witnessed horribly mangled Java applications.

I do think that PHP (and LAMP in general) has a lower barrier to entry than Java EE. There are a lot less concepts and languages to learn. This makes it attractive to individuals that come from the design side. They just need to add some tags and a little logic in their web page to make it dynamic. Java EE is big and scary. We forgot it because we grew into it.

My recommendation would be for you to try writing a smallish PHP application. This will help you get a taste for the language and the associated frameworks. You may actually like it. And it will make you more marketable.

Fred

oren.livne wrote:

Dear All,

I am a Java web developer and I've been hearing many objections in my
organization to using Java. My
department has been using Apache, PHP and MySQL for a long time.
Personally, I don't know any PHP
and like programming in Java, so I can't tell which is better. I tried
to search the Internet but came up mostly
with articles about why PHP is better than Java, because it's simpler
and scales at least as well. If you think
Java is better, could you kindly give me some arguments to share with
others in my department and maybe
a reference or two to back them up?

Thanks so much in advance,
Oren

--
--
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"Every compilation or run-time error in your code is a reflection of
some programming misconception. Therefore, upon finding an error, ask
yourself: 'What more do I have to learn about programming to prevent
this error from happening again?"
-- O.E.L.
----------------------------------------------------------
Oren Livne, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor of Mathematics
RUReady Software Architect

Academic Outreach and Continuing Education
1901 East South Campus Dr., Room 2197-D
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9399
Tel : (801) 581-6831 Cell: (801) 631-3885 Fax: (801) 585-5414
Email: olivne@aoce.utah.edu Web: http://ruready.net/oren
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