Python is a very powerful language and its features and syntax allow some tasks to be done in a more ellegant manner then with PHP (think about shell programms for example). So it might be a good thing to get a kind of integration or direct exchange with PHP (which also has its benefits, now doubt). The use of web services might be a good idea, but they would be an overkill in (smaller) applications. more »

PHP5 new OOP features now allow programmers to create a real object and class based application. But there is one limitation that complicates this development: web based applications rely on a request-response cycle and unlike JSP, PHP does not keep object states between different requests (not talking about hack solutions including sessions or special server extensions). The result is, that objects must be initialized and restored everytime they are needed (maybe based on data stored via GET or POST). So, PHP does not really seem appropriate for developing real OOP applications, beside the use in code libraries. more »

While reading a book about Unit Testing I got caught on a small chapter about Test Driven Development (TDD). TDD is one of the most significant aspects in Extreme Programming and it’s core concept can be stated as “test twice, code once”. more »