NYCPHP Meetup

[Tim Gales]

Ricky Bacon writes:

 "...should I go with PHP 5 (is it usable yet), 
  or should I do PHP 4?"

Well, it's the beginning of a new year and that 
tends to bring out 'Silvia (the psychic) Brown'-esque 
predictions by self-appointed pundits on what will 
happen during a coming (new) year.

Let me join in the fray and say, after polishing up my 
crystal ball, that I see PHP 5 stabilizing around June 
of this year.

If you don't mind (and if your environment permits) periodic 
upgrades and patches, go with PHP 5.

The (version 4) features of PHP 5 seem to be alive and 
unbroken in the (b3) release which I am testing on Windows XP.
(and so as a direct answer to your question -- yes 
PHP is usable now -- my opinion of course).

The determining factor may be whether you want to develop 
'commercial' products and which of the available data storage 
applications you want to use (How lite do you take your SQL?).

As a footnote, I found a page which may be of interest to you.
(especially if you agree that data storage apps. could be the 
'swing factor' in your decision) 

There is a published 'Data Speed Comparison' test report at:
http://sambar.polie.nl/sqllite.htm

Hope this helps

T. Gales & Associates
'Helping People Connect with Technology'

http://www.tgaconnect.com