[Tinymux] Talking to external code.

[Ben Trafford]

At 08:12 PM 12/5/2005, T. Alexander Popiel wrote:
>According to a couple sources I found[*], Java, C, and C++ appear
>to be more popular than PHP.  How do you defend your familiarity
>argument?

         They're more popular among hardcore programmers and people hired 
to program, yes. But in terms of actual usage? PHP is on 23,000,000 
domains*. I suspect the real-world usage of PHP far outstrips Java, C, or 
C++. It's an easy language for a hobbyist to learn and use.

         Also, it's easy to integrate into TinyMUX, by comparison, because 
it's -designed- to be integrated into server software.

         *(http://www.php.net/usage.php)

>goal shouldn't be to increase the number of MUXes.  More games is
>certainly a laudable thing, but I suspect there are better tools
>with less historical baggage.

         Again, I'd argue work vs. benefit effort. Yes, I could write a 
whole new text-based server that used a nicer language...but why bother, 
when PHP integration gets me what I want?

>If you think that the choice of programming language will
>significantly influence a person's interest level in a game,
>then I suspect you're looking at people who are more interested
>in the language than in the game.

         I disagree. Simplicity of use tends to equal more adoption. HTML 
is a very clear example of this. There are far more people who know how to 
do HTML markup than code C. Why? Because it's easier.

         If we make coding MUX easier, I suspect we'll have more coders, or 
less of a need for those who specialize in the intricacies of softcode.

         Anyhow...at the end of the day, I'm doing it for myself. I brought 
it up in this forum to see if other people were interested. Some are, some 
aren't. I assume the ones who are will use it. Using it myself is 
sufficient justification, for me, to continue with the project.

--->Ben