Yahoo Goes PHP in Open Source Embrace

The Apache-backed PHP project, which was created in 1995 by Rasmus Lerdorf, has seen startling usage growth since 1999 and its adoption by a high-profile Web property like Yahoo has sent tongues wagging in the developer community.

Because PHP is embedded within tags, code writers can jump between HTML (define) and PHP (similar to ASP and Cold Fusion) instead of having to rely on heavy amounts of code to output HTML. PHP is shipped standard with a number of Web servers, including RedHat Linux.

Radwin, who has worked as a Yahoo engineer since 1998, said proprietary scripting language became a "pain in the neck to maintain and use" and was difficult to integrate with third-party software. He said coding in C++ (define) was too cumbersome and prone to buffer overflows, making it a security risk for Yahoo.