Python vs PHP vs Perl mapscript

[Jon Saints]

Wow...

Thanks so much Sean. I believe that this is a great
overview. Is there a mapserver wiki somewhere where we
could publish this information.

Jon


--- Sean Gillies <sgillies at FRII.COM> wrote:

> On Jan 18, 2005, at 10:38 AM, Jon Saints wrote:
>
> > Hi
> >
> > Are then advantages/disavantages in terms of
> features
> > of using mapscript in python, perl, or php?
> >
> > Does one mapscript have more functionality than
> > another? Is one developed more heavily?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Jon
> >
>
> Jon,
>
> The Python and Perl modules are generated from the
> same templates with
> a few extra useful methods that are implemented only
> for Python:
> enhanced imageObj constructor and image output, for
> example.  Other
> than that, they are equivalent.  Python benefits
> from having many usage
> examples within the mapscript unit tests, but any
> Perl hacker can
> translate the unit tests to their own scripts.
> Python hooks up to
> other open source GIS software like GDAL/OGR, GEOS,
> and OpenEV better
> than Perl or PHP, and this is a big plus.
>
> All the mapscript modules share a great deal of core
> code: layer and
> map drawing, querying, etc.  The PHP interface is,
> however, developed
> separately from Python and Perl's, does not benefit
> from the other
> mapscript unit tests, and in the past year is a bit
> behind the
> Python/Perl mapscript in features and rate of
> development.  The main
> difference is that the PHP module lacks a number of
> methods for cloning
> layers, classes, and styles, and for inserting and
> deleting these from
> their "parent" objects.  Correct me if I am wrong
> (Daniel?), but I
> think that the original PHP mapscript developers'
> resources are
> currently spent on a higher-level software product
> instead of on the
> lower level mapscript.  The Python (and related)
> mapscript module has
> undergone more rapid development because of the
> needs of my ZMapServer
> and Cartographic Objects for Zope software, but most
> users will not
> need these extra features.
>
> As I have said before, PHP is unrivaled for web
> pages that have a
> relatively small amount of logic behind them.  It is
> fast and the
> platform is mature and well supported.  The PHP
> mapscript has proven
> itself to be very useful.  For larger applications
> that just so happen
> to have a web interface, you'll want to consider a
> less web-oriented
> language that is OO and easy to profile, test, and
> refactor.  IMO, this
> means Python rather than Perl.
>
> cheers,
> Sean
>
> --
> Sean Gillies
> sgillies at frii dot com
> http://users.frii.com/sgillies
>