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117 lines
5.3 KiB
PHP
117 lines
5.3 KiB
PHP
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require("shared.inc");
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commonHeader("PHP - Acronym Meaning Vote - Reasoning");
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?>
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Here are two pieces, one by Rasmus supporting <strong>PHP HTML Preprocessor</strong>
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and the other by Zeev supporting <strong>PHP Hypertext Preprocessor</strong>.
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<pre>
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PHP: an HTML Preprocessor
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PHP has long been described as, "A server-side HTML-embedded scripting
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language". This description will tell most people what to expect from
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PHP. In trying to come up with a better meaning for the PHP acronym we
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have to realize where the expanded acronym will be used. Magazine
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articles, press releases and other marketing-oriented writing likes to
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expand acronyms for their readers, and as such it is important that the
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expanded acronym carries as much information as possible targeted at the
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widest audience possible.
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The word, "Preprocessor" is a bit technical, but it conveys the idea that
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the language does its job before something else happens. The word, "HTML"
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tells the reader that this is what is preprocessed and that whatever is
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being preprocessed is likely inside the HTML. I just called HTML a word.
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Obviously it is an acronym, but in common speech it is a word. Nobody
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says "Hypertext Markup Language". I think it is important to have HTML in
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the name because the average weekend web warrior knows what HTML is.
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Using the word, "Hypertext" in its place is an option, but I feel it
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dilutes the meaning. Technically PHP isn't just used to create HTML, it
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can also spit out images or any other data stream you can think of. By
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that logic we might use the word "Hypermedia" instead of "Hypertext" since
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Hypertext also doesn't fully cover the types of things PHP can produce.
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On the other hand, HTML doesn't just refer to the source file type, but
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also to the style of the tags used to embed PHP. Whether the actual file
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is XML or whatever, PHP uses HTML-style tags to weave its magic. The
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output datastream is irrelevant. The preprocessing and embedding is done
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HTML-style no matter how you twist and turn things. Even if you have a
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file full of XML tags which produces a video stream, the PHP component
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will be in HTML-style tags.
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HTML-embedded scripting is the heart and soul of PHP and the acronym
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should reflect this.
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-Rasmus
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View #2
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--------------------
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Why not go with PHP: HTML Preprocessor
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* Having two acronyms, one after the other, looks and sounds bad. Plenty
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of block letters, plenty of letters to spell out when reading the name.
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* In the not-so-far future, PHP will probably be used to work with other
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languages (e.g. XML). However, it'll still be primarily used in the web
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environment and will probably still be dealing with hypertext. That means
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HTML will be a bad name, whereas Hypertext would still be OK.
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Why go with PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
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* Basically, the opposites of the above reason. Hypertext is a word that
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sounds and looks ok. It also covers a lot more than HTML does. Even
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though half of HTML is 'HyperText', if we 'hardcode' HTML in the name,
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it'll seem as if the language is limited to working with this language
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only. With hypertext, this is not the case.
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* I doubt there are any webmasters who don't know what hypertext is, and
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that HTML is hypertext. The 'HTML is more familiar than Hypertext' doesn't
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cut it as a reason, IMHO.
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Now, the third option mentioned by Rasmus, suggested by Stig Bakken, is
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also a valid option. 'PHP: Hypermedia Preprocessor' would definitely be
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the most accurate meaning from among the three options, since it also
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covers other types of output that PHP sometimes generates, like GD
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graphics. It doesn't suffer from the problems with 'PHP: HTML
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Preprocessor', but on the other hand, I've personally never heard that word
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before in my life, and I suspect there are plenty of other people in the
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same situation.
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Another problem with it, IMHO, is that my first association with Hypermedia
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was Multimedia (and actually, that is the meaning), and if we say that PHP
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is a Multimedia Preprocessor, we'll appear to be boasting in something that
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we fail to deliver. Even though there are scripts that output content
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other than text/html, like GD graphics, these are fairly rare. Also, when
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the multimedia buzzword comes up, people usually think about video and
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sound, and PHP is almost never used in conjunction with those.
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Zeev
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To sum up view #1:
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1. Any name with "Hyper" anywhere in it sounds bad. It is in the same
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class as "Cyber" and "Ultra" in that they are overused and trite.
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2. Regardless of the state of XML or whatever else comes along in the
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future PHP is a embedded language HTML-style.
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3. HTML-embedded scripting is the heart and soul of PHP and the name
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should reflect this.
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To sum up view #2:
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1. PHP: HTML Preprocessor sounds and looks bad, like just about any other
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two acronyms glued together. The 'any name with hyper in it sounds bad'
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view, on the other hand, is 'somewhat' un-understandable, IMHO.
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2. In the near, hardcoding HTML in the name would mean we cover less than
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99% of the market (when XML kicks in).
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3. Hypertext Preprocessor looks and sounds better, and covers >99% of the
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market, and will probably continue to do so when XML is used.
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4. Hypermedia Preprocessor also looks OK, but the word is a bit obscure,
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and the meaning covers around 200% of the market (that is, it also covers
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plenty of things that PHP isn't used for).
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</pre>
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<?
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commonFooter();
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?>
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