I was forced to migrate to PHP since that is what appears to be selling for 9ja and i hav not regretted it! At one time it was perl/asp in the early days at least in the web world.

*dhtml:

I was forced to migrate to PHP since that is what appears to be selling for 9ja and i hav not regretted it! At one time it was perl/asp in the early days at least in the web world.

it is not a matter of what is selling in nigeria. it is a matter of using the right technology for the right job.

will you use PHP to develop an ETL batch program software ?

candylips:

it is not a matter of what is selling in nigeria. it is a matter of using the right technology for the right job.

will you use PHP to develop an ETL batch program software ?

I don't even know what an ETL batch program software is and I don't want to go to wikipedia or google to find out but let us do it this way - tell me what ETL batch program software is and what it does and I will tell you if you can use PHP to develop one.

Trust me programming is all about logic and manipulation of data especially based on conditional statements or instructions.

ok Afam i don't want to start a PHP war here o  .

all i was just sayin was that you can't use PHP for every software development project. I can explain what ETL means and site various other examples and scenerios where PHP in inadequate but i am just too lazy to start another unneccessary argument. 

candylips:

ok Afam i don't want to start a PHP war here o  .

all i was just sayin was that you can't use PHP for every software development project. I can explain what ETL means and site various other examples and scenerios where PHP in inadequate but i am just too lazy to start another unneccessary argument. 

Excellent response.

This is not about PHP war or unnecessary argument. It is about justifying a statement.

PHP cannot be used for every software development project or it should not be used for every software development project?

Is there a programming language you believe should be used for every software development project?

Though PHP was developed for the web I have used it to develop desktop software for an oil servicing firm who used and dumped some off the shelf solutions built by other programming language.

In my opinion, it is more about the skills, understanding and experience necessary to turn basic and complex processes into software.

i understand and agree 100% with your point.

I just feel that certain languagues make certain kinds of problem easier to solve than others.

There is a reason why people don't use Fortran or C++ to develop web sites

and there is probably a reason why people will use .Net instead of Java to develop a Windows desktop application

guy abeg you sabi hack?
well i will love if you could share a little knowledge with me.this is my number call me 08065673875

People have gradually turned this to PHP issue. I think we need to answer the original poster's question. And that will require some knowledge of what sofware solution(s) have a BRIGHTER PROSPECT in Nigeria, and then what tool is the best to learn to put him in a state where he can compete for job opportunit(ies) that may come from such. He has scoped the question that way I believe.

PHP is best at what it does best. Simple.

I think some people hear do not understand the question
when the author said brighter prospects he never asked for
Technical Specs, if he wanted that then there is stackOverflow

What i think he means is in case of
1. Cost of hosting
2. Availability
3. Deployability.

We can go back and forth on specs,and speed and implementations but to the market
that is not what matters, what matters is what is useful and makes economic sense to the market
which in all ramifications is PHP ! yes you can scorn all you want but that is the truth and we all know that.

In Nigerian we hardly build software, most of it is imported from the Western world who are way
ahead of us, what we do here is play catchup, save a few tech-heads.

Look at wordpress it powers almost every popular site you know.
PHP is cheap , easy to deploy, widespread and many host support it
also you can easily work with more programmers on large projects with it.
Even though it is scorned by most people who barely know it, the fact is it works and can put
money in your pocket if you know how to write it. SIMPLE !

If you like go and learn C++ , or Clojure. you will only use it for your personal stuff
and it will never put food on your table because the end user don't care what you use,
just what is cheap, works and is readily available.
has more job opportunities

Take this from an experience 3yrs + developer, who has worked for 2 Nigerian tech companies

In-case you need to develop an solid web application that works for your organisation or business
visit: www.udonline.net
I will help you create a strong web presence for your brand which aligns with the
corporate vision of your organisation.
I rest my case

PHP all the way! shun all these PHP haters that will come here and whine their mouths how PHP is not well designed, slow etc etc meanwhile that's what puts food on their table. For me, PHP works for me although I knw java, android, VB, the only jobs I get are all PHP jobs.

udswagz: I think some people hear do not understand the question
when the author said brighter prospects he never asked for
Technical Specs, if he wanted that then there is stackOverflow

What i think he means is in case of
1. Cost of hosting
2. Availability
3. Deployability.

We can go back and forth on specs,and speed and implementations but to the market
that is not what matters, what matters is what is useful and makes economic sense to the market
which in all ramifications is PHP ! yes you can scorn all you want but that is the truth and we all know that.

In Nigerian we hardly build software, most of it is imported from the Western world who are way
ahead of us, what we do here is play catchup, save a few tech-heads.

Look at wordpress it powers almost every popular site you know.
PHP is cheap , easy to deploy, widespread and many host support it
also you can easily work with more programmers on large projects with it.
Even though it is scorned by most people who barely know it, the fact is it works and can put
money in your pocket if you know how to write it. SIMPLE !

If you like go and learn C++ , or Clojure. you will only use it for your personal stuff
and it will never put food on your table because the end user don't care what you use,
just what is cheap, works and is readily available.
has more job opportunities

Take this from an experience 3yrs + developer, who has worked for 2 Nigerian tech companies

In-case you need to develop an solid web application that works for your organisation or business
visit: www.udonline.net
I will help you create a strong web presence for your brand which aligns with the
corporate vision of your organisation.
I rest my case

stop talkg cr.ap.
Brighter prospects means - better career and monetary rewards. Period.
Nigerians relish mediocrity thts y in Tech we ar nowhere.
Y shud we import software when theyre universities and lotsa cs graduates. We shud b innovatg.
As for c++ and clojure being pipe dreams . Mayb here,but the tech world outside of naija will appreciate those skills.
Php is popular simply because managers in the web design companies want standards . They want php as the standard language and a large pool of cheap labour (php developers) .
No thinkg takes place. No innovation. Just mindless stabilisation.
But d world of I.T and Tech has progressed so far cuz of relentless improvement and innovation. Not just being content with good but pushg on to better.
The praise of php is only loud here. In western countries, you may hav to work with other web languages like ruby,perl, java,clojure and dot net.

uchdollar111: PHP all the way! shun all these PHP haters that will come here and whine their mouths how PHP is not well designed, slow etc etc meanwhile that's what puts food on their table. For me, PHP works for me although I knw java, android, VB, the only jobs I get are all PHP jobs.

You are speaking the absolute truth !

asalimpo:

stop talkg cr.ap.
Brighter prospects means - better career and monetary rewards. Period.
Nigerians relish mediocrity thts y in Tech we ar nowhere.
Y shud we import software when theyre universities and lotsa cs graduates. We shud b innovatg.
As for c++ and clojure being pipe dreams . Mayb here,but the tech world outside of naija will appreciate those skills.
Php is popular simply because managers in the web design companies want standards . They want php as the standard language and a large pool of cheap labour (php developers) .
No thinkg takes place. No innovation. Just mindless stabilisation.
But d world of I.T and Tech has progressed so far cuz of relentless improvement and innovation. Not just being content with good but pushg on to better.
The praise of php is only loud here. In western countries, you may hav to work with other web languages like ruby,perl, java,clojure and dot net.

I don't know how sharp your understanding is but from what i see its on the very low side. Starting by using insults.
Well if you must know i don't code only PHP, i do a lot of Javascript (Node.js and Jquery) , a lot of Java (Android , SE),
designed my first car race game with Visual basic (i can email it to you if you want) in 200level
I Also do a lot of front-end Html and css proficiently, recently signed up for
www.csszengarden.com/
and GDG lagos competition

The problem is not the language, the problem is that we have not fully embraced Tech and the only thing we do
is web and just recently going into mobile, i see that you must be really young and in-experienced that is why you are talking senselessly.
I bet you have never worked on any commercial project or done commercial programming. You are just fooling yourself.
Nigerian programmers are good (i have worked with a lot), its just that the their skills do not have a need here.
so learning those languages that dont pay the bills will just make sure you don't have enough to subscribe for internet and come to
Nairaland and start blabbing.

This is not the western world, this is Africa and people like you are stuck here and are going to be here for a long time
so i guess you better wise-up and learn skills that are usefull to your community.

PS: i develop my personal projects using Java, and the recent site my team and i just launched was build with
Python.

Go get some experience newbie, You know nothing !
www.udonline.net

udswagz:

I don't know how sharp your understanding is but from what i see its on the very low side. Starting by using insults.
Well if you must know i don't code only PHP, i do a lot of Javascript (Node.js and Jquery) , a lot of Java (Android , SE),
designed my first car race game with Visual basic (i can email it to you if you want) in 200level
I Also do a lot of front-end Html and css proficiently, recently signed up for
www.csszengarden.com/
and GDG lagos competition

The problem is not the language, the problem is that we have not fully embraced Tech and the only thing we do
is web and just recently going into mobile, i see that you must be really young and in-experienced that is why you are talking senselessly.
I bet you have never worked on any commercial project or done commercial programming. You are just fooling yourself.
Nigerian programmers are good (i have worked with a lot), its just that the their skills do not have a need here.
so learning those languages that dont pay the bills will just make sure you don't have enough to subscribe for internet and come to
Nairaland and start blabbing.

This is not the western world, this is Africa and people like you are stuck here and are going to be here for a long time
so i guess you better wise-up and learn skills that are usefull to your community.

PS: i develop my personal projects using Java, and the recent site my team and i just launched was build with
Python.

Go get some experience newbie, You know nothing !
www.udonline.net

if u feel insulted. Sorry.
But succint words are more effective than padded words.
E.g
"stop talking crap/horse/bull sh*t"
(3 words)
"i dont totally agree with what u just said..." (9 words)
the first one jar-red u and u wrote a lenghty reply proving its efficacy
the second longer one wudve put u to sleep .*yawning*
any way, ur first write up was crap.
Think bf u post.
*send me ur vb game wud like to toss it*.

Dont com here and talk bullsh*t and expect evrybody to stomach it.
And dont get huffy wen sb slams u for talkg crap.
Ppl like u can't work in d military.
You'll take d harsh traing too personally but tht's y soldiers ar better models of men thn civilians.

asalimpo:

if u feel insulted. Sorry.
But succint words are more effective than padded words.
E.g
"stop talking crap/horse/bull sh*t"
(3 words)
"i dont totally agree with what u just said..." (9 words)
the first one jar-red u and u wrote a lenghty reply proving its efficacy
the second longer one wudve put u to sleep .*yawning*
any way, ur first write up was crap.
Think bf u post.
*send me ur vb game wud like to toss it*.

Dont com here and talk bullsh*t and expect evrybody to stomach it.
And dont get huffy wen sb slams u for talkg crap.
Ppl like u can't work in d military.
You'll take d harsh traing too personally but tht's y soldiers ar better models of men thn civilians.

I now see that only the really bad programmers talk crap about a programming language they
never use, especially when they are trying to change the subject matter.
I like being polite [succint vs padded ] to people especially on forums because i would like to learn a lot from them, but in your case it a big mistake.
You comment don't annoy me, they just proved a few points.
You are not really good at programming what so ever, you just enjoy bouncing around forums and forming {geek}
seriously dude, get a life. for a moment i thought you where some prodigy & i was thinking i could learn a lot from you.
i got an app to finish up, i can't let some dumb looser waist my time.
Take my advice dude, next time you feel insecure about your self and your poor skills, don't change the subject matter
try to prove your point intelligently, it makes people not doubt that there is a brain in your head
am so out of this thread like last year
Have a great life !

udswagz:
I now see that only the really bad programmers talk crap about a programming language they
never use, especially when they are trying to change the subject matter.
I like being polite [succint vs padded ] to people especially on forums because i would like to learn a lot from them, but in your case it a big mistake.
You comment don't annoy me, they just proved a few points.
You are not really good at programming what so ever, you just enjoy bouncing around forums and forming {geek}
seriously dude, get a life. for a moment i thought you where some prodigy & i was thinking i could learn a lot from you.
i got an app to finish up, i can't let some dumb looser waist my time.
Take my advice dude, next time you feel insecure about your self and your poor skills, don't change the subject matter
try to prove your point intelligently, it makes people not doubt that there is a brain in your head
am so out of this thread like last year
Have a great life !

Thank you bro I'm sick and tired of all these half baked programmers who just learn programming jargons and come here and blarb n talk down PHP. Look, I started my programming career with vb6.0 learnt java both SE. and android but stayed jobless for many years, but last two years, I picked up PHP and within six months, I started getting many jobs and currently I'm st the verge of completing a personal commercial project developed with PHP which I tag a success. Now tell me, it I had'nt learnt PHP, I wonder what could have been of my life.

udswagz:

I now see that only the really bad programmers talk crap about a programming language they
never use, especially when they are trying to change the subject matter.
I like being polite [succint vs padded ] to people especially on forums because i would like to learn a lot from them, but in your case it a big mistake.
You comment don't annoy me, they just proved a few points.
You are not really good at programming what so ever, you just enjoy bouncing around forums and forming {geek}
seriously dude, get a life. for a moment i thought you where some prodigy & i was thinking i could learn a lot from you.
i got an app to finish up, i can't let some dumb looser waist my time.
Take my advice dude, next time you feel insecure about your self and your poor skills, don't change the subject matter
try to prove your point intelligently, it makes people not doubt that there is a brain in your head
am so out of this thread like last year
Have a great life !

stop being childish. Ur tryg to act grown up but its failing.
I'll b a fool to try to impress you.
I wont even try. But i will post here and in other rooms as i wish.

"Insecure about your skillz"

primary school behaviour!

All these hyper ventilation cuz som1 called u to order on crap u wrote?! Smh.

I'll like to play ur game. You mentioned it- send it to me as an email attachment.

If there's anythg u can teach me on programming,i'm open to learn. Post it here.
You ve already learnt from me- though u wont admit it.
Ur childish ego is too swollen to let u think humbly.

Have a great life?
- you shudve said buzz off ,
instead of use politeness u dnt mean.

uchdollar111:
Thank you bro I'm sick and tired of all these half baked programmers who just learn programming jargons and come here and blarb n talk down PHP. Look, I started my programming career with vb6.0 learnt java both SE. and android but stayed jobless for many years, but last two years, I picked up PHP and within six months, I started getting many jobs and currently I'm completing a personal commercial project developed with PHP. Now tell me, it I had'nt learnt PHP, I wonder what could have been of my life.

summary:
you learnt desktop programming (vb6,java se) but it didnt workout.
You switched to web dev (php,mysql) and you got jobs pouring in.
So php pays d bills. Som other programmer earns his living
doing java,vb,c++ and not switchg to web dev.
What dyu want them to say about language choice?

asalimpo:
summary:
you learnt desktop programming (vb6,java se) but it didnt workout.
You switched to web dev (php,mysql) and you got jobs pouring in.
So php pays d bills. Som other programmer earns his living
doing java,vb,c++ and not switchg to web dev.
What dyu want them to say about language choice?

Bro, I know that there are guys like that, but the question is how many percentage of Nigerian programmers do make a living off those languages?

uchdollar111:
Bro, I know that there are guys like that, but the question is how many percentage of Nigerian programmers do make a living off those languages?

i would guess very few compared to web devs.
Notwithstandg, i've seen local ads for core programmers , in mainstream languages. Java,c# mainly.
With stringent criteria.
I think the issue is the lack of manpowet in this field rather than market.
Most people ar into web dev rather core dev.
Core dev is time intensive and more taskg than web dev.
Also most core devs opt to create and take to market rather thn wait for paid employment to come knocking.

www.anatech.com.ng nice

Dudes battling over supremacy... One of the few traits of a good programmer is the ability to offer solutions to newbie questions or contribute effectively to a forum and not having lengthy arguments on a topic.. Uchdollar, Udswagz n Asalimpo, The newbies looking up to y'all will be disappointed after viewing this thread.. Lets stop these arguments..

yawatide:
I think the keyword here is "today's nigeria".  When I see that:

1) I am thinking what can be easily learned at the lowest cost
2) I am thinking what most of the applications in Nigeria are written with
3) I am thinking what probably has the lowest learning curve, at least to get one's feet wet
4) I am thinking infrastructure that would enable someone to learn any language the quickest (coding environment, hosting (if for the web) and its associated costs, books, etc)

In other words, I am not thinking what language is best overall.  None is, when it boils down to it.  Each has its strengths and weaknesses and besides, has been hashed out over and over on here that it is boring.

Again, let's think "in today's Nigeria".

to buttress yawatide's point; a gud developer ought to see a progrmn lang as a tool. a programn lang is jst a tool u use in achievin a means. wot makes u a gud developr is ur ability to learn(esp a programin lang) fast. e.g. if u say u can only program in java(whch is one of, if nt d most popular lang today) developin a web app wt java is lyk killin a mosquito wt a bazooka, somtyn dat can easily b achvd wt php, python, ruby etc. bottom line, to b a gud developr u must posses d ability to learn new langs quickly.

I would go with java, c++ and php but if you are developing for apple devices objective c is a must

Interesting... So PHP dominates the nigerian market

I believe Php is very popular because of the use of WordPress cms and Co, but C# (asp.net) pays like mad.