[KLUG Members] PHP and MYSQL

[Adam Williams]

>For someone -starting off- to learn php & mysql, I disagree about using ODBC. 
>Learn the easiest, fastest way first, which is php & mysql.  Not
>everyone is going to end up using Oracle.

I disagree with the disagreement. :)  Configuration of unixODBC on most
current distribution is trivial, and RedHats PHP supports ODBC
out-of-the-box.  So it isn't hard at all.  I strongly recommend this
because human behaviour is habitual,  people just tend to continue to do
things the way they learned first to do them.  I've met way to many
large and complicated applications written in a "hello world" style. 
And apps do tend to grow in size and complexity far beyond what was
first intended/conceived.

And the Open Source sense of community encourages code sharing.  Code
sharing is easier if you code is as 'detached' as possible from its
original environment.  For example (and purely as an example, not
because it is a great app); I needed to publish information from an LDAP
DSA into NIS tables for legacy platforms.  It would have been truly
trivial to write a 'fixed function' little C or PHP routing to do this. 
But with only a little extra effort I was able to put together
"ldap2nis",  something independent enough of our environment to be
generally useful.  I think this point should at least be considered in
all developement projects (after all, I was basing all this on something
someone else gave away).

>Those who are fond of Postgres and Oracle often assume everyone will migrate to them eventually, and thereforer recommend setting up to do so.  But that's a lot of unnecessary overhead if the project never goes there, and
>overly prudent unless the project calls for it.  Unless there is a known, compelling reason to do otherwise (in the project, not the fears of naysayers), I'd recommend doing what works easy and well: php & mysql.
>Not everybody needs to drive a Volvo.

Right.  But if you can drive a Reliant Aries K you can drive a Volvo. 
If you learn to drive on a Model-T ford,  driving a Volvo (or an Aries
K) is going to be pretty hard.