[KLUG Members] PHP and MYSQL

[bill]

> >If you burden someone with too much unnecessary overhead to make his learning
> >curve look like a cliff he may just give up trying.  Let the guy learn.
>
> I don't think unixODBC adds even 2 degrees to the learning curve. Or is it
> a learning angle....

We don't even know what platform the person is using.  I don't mean *nix vs. Microsoft,
but whether he has admin control or not (or whether he knows how to add things to his
own setup) or whether he's paying someone else to host a website for him.  Admins are
notorious, as you noted, for not wanting to add stuff.

There's a downside to learning either way, but PHP & MySQL are ubiquitous, it's likely
he can find such a setup anywhere.  The two are startlingly easy to learn and fast to
develop on, and incredibly robust.  I've run dynamic websites with well over a quarter
million hits per month, averaging perhaps ten queries per page with MySQL not barking at
all, and my experience isn't abnormal.

Sure, consider ODBC development.  Recognize it adds time, effort, cost, and decreases
performance, but it -may- indeed help later on.  So put all the cards on the table for
the customer to see.  It may on the other hand be faster, cheaper, better performing and
more profitable to write good code now and alter the code later -if necessary-.

You work for an established company, Adam, so the extra time and money involved will not
make or break your company.  Other companies may have different needs . . . I've known
companies to turn down projects because it had too much ODBC overhead.  I'm developing
new apps now for two unrelated companies that still -type- each request and e-mail it.
Yikes!

ODBC is for legacy apps and portability.  No legacy and no need for portability?  Then
no ODBC.  If my machine just needs to talk to another machine, let's develop an
XML-RPC.  Zero degrees of separation in my view means XML, not ODBC.

Again, however, the guy is just learning.  Heck, this discussion is undoubtedly way over
his head though it may be fun for the general populace.  I'm not "agin it," but
sometimes the overhead of ODBC can be too much.  You can't carry all your luggage on all
your trips  I just want the guy to know he can learn PHP & MySQL and make hay while the
sun shines.

kind regards,

bill