[PD] Why use Lua instead of PHP in my case ?

[marius schebella]

it is not only a choice between lua and php.
I had good experiences in the past with the python external, but that 
was before I discovered lua. for another project I am now starting to 
use pdj (java external), because I have to connect to a java api backend 
via function calls. I think both are reasonable alternatives if you are 
familiar with one of these languages. I think python has already better 
support for mysql related stuff than lua, because it is used a lot with 
web-applications. but that does not mean lua has not...
marius.

Frank Barknecht wrote:
> Hallo,
> Jack hat gesagt: // Jack wrote:
> 
>> Le 20 mars 08 à 15:43, Frank Barknecht a écrit :
>>> I don't know of an external which adds PHP support inside of Pd. If
>>> you are talking about which programming language to choose outside of
>>> Pd: I'd choose whatever you feel most comfortable with. Of course one
>>> could debate which language is the "better" language, Lua or PHP, but
>>> I think, this would be very off-topic here.
>> Of course, I selected that with which I am more at ease. :)
>> In fact, i just want to know if Lua is as at ease as PHP with  
>> Internet, string operation and MySQL.
>> Lua is well implemented in PD, so i think it's not very off-topic here !
> 
> Yeah, I meant the more general discussion if Lua altogether is
> "better" than PHP would be off-topic. Until PHP is available in Pd,
> the choice between Lua and PHP inside of Pd is easy. 
> 
> Outside of Pd there's nothing wrong with using PHP for programming.
> One difference between Lua and many other popular languages like PHP,
> Python or Perl is, that Lua is not a language which comes with many
> modules whereas the "P-languages" shine in regard to this and have
> many ready-to-use library bindings on board. The core Lua however is
> deliberatly kept small - much like Pd actually! 
> 
> Core Lua already has powerful string operations, but for MySQL or
> Socket/Internet programming you need to install separate libraries.
> The Kepler project would be a good start. 
> 
> I don't know very much about PHP (I tend to avoid PHP and Perl as much
> as possible and greatly prefer Python, if I need lots of library
> bindings) so I cannot comment on how good the PHP libraries are
> compared to what's available for Lua.
> 
> Ciao