Today is 08/08/08.  While many in the world note this as the day of the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympicsin Beijing, some of us note a more important, interesting, and ceremonial date...

PHP4 is Dead. [announcement]

There are obituaries from friends, allies, and smart people such as Brandon Savage (local DCPHP'er), Stefan Priebsch, and more people than I care to link.

I came to PHP back in early 2003.  I was just coming off a major Java project and was looking for something lighter, faster to develop, and easier to deploy.  I poked around a bit and found PHP but I really didn't sink my teeth in until I found dotProject.

In my early days, the lack of a real Object model offended my sensibilities.  I knew all about patterns, was deep into refactoring, and lived and breathed OO from the Java world, so PHP4 just felt kludgy and incomplete.  I felt like I was cramming clowns in a car and I didn't know if I could get them all in or one of their squirt flowers would explode and I'd be left picking clown parts out of my hair for a week.

Anyway, PHP4 was a good place to start, but like any type of technology, it's time has come and passed.  So, it was a good run, but PHP5 is here, better, and... well, just better.

If you're in DC and would like to come and mourn/celebrate the passing of PHP4, please join the DCPHP Beverage Subgroup this evening at Four Courts in Arlington, VA.  All the info is on php.net, the only difference is that we're doing it tonight.

If you'd like to come, please let me know asap, so I can update the reservation.

And if you want to stay in touch with the local DCPHP'ers, sign up for the mailing list...