Object Oriented Language Comparison :: Python & PHP

Author(s):

• Colin Stevens (me)
• Colin Stevens (myself), and
• Colin Stevens (I)

Language Comparison

This documentation seeks to examine specifically the differences in PHP and Python in regard to Object Oriented concepts.

Table of Contents

• Language Purpose/Genesis
  • Why was the language created?
  • What problems does the language address?
  • Is the language a reaction to previous languages or intended as a language replacement?
• Unique Features
  • Does the language have any unique features?
• Name Spaces
  • How are name spaces implemented?
  • How are name spaces used?
• Types
  • What types does the language support?
  • Are reference and value types supported?
  • Can new value types be created?
• Classes
  • Definition
  • New instances of a class
  • Class construction/initialization
  • Class deconstruction/deinitialization
• Instance Reference
  • How are names referenced from within objects?
• Object Properties
  • Getters and setters
  • Do backing variables exist?
  • Do computed properties exist?
• Interfaces/Protocols
  • Does the language support interfaces/protocols?
  • If so, what abilities do they have?
  • If they exist, how are interfaces/protocols used?
• Inheritance/Extension
  • How are classes inherited/extended?
• Reflection
  • What reflection abilities are supported?
  • How is reflection used?
• Memory Management
  • How is memory handled?
  • How does memory management work?
  • Is there a garbage collection service?
  • Is there automatic reference counting?
• Comparisons of References and Values
  • How are values compared?
• Null/Nil References
  • What does the language call these?
  • What are the features of handling these?
• Errors and Exception Handling
  • How are errors/exceptions treated?
• Lambda Expressions and Closures
  • How do lambda expressions work?
  • How do closures expressions work?
• Listeners and Event Handlers
  • How are listeners/event handlers implemented?
• Singletons
  • How are singletons implemented?
  • Can they be made thread safe?
  • Can the singleton instance be lazily instantiated?
• Procedural Programming
  • Does the language support procedural programming?
• Functional Programming
  • Does the language support functional programming?
• Multithreading
  • How is multitasking accomplished?
  • How do threads or thread-like abilities work?