This time, I’m finally fed up with both of them at the same time. I’m tired of overly-complicated middleware that does not improve things for the users. If someone uses the word “framework” again when talking about either language, I’ll throttle them with my bare hands. I’m looking for simplicity, the cheap thrill that allows me to focus on the layer that adds the most value for the users – the UI.

I’ve dabbled with Ruby on Rails, but she is an opinionated, foulmouthed mistress. Good for the five minute quicky site, but not a stack you’ll want to associate with the next day. She quickly gets bitchy and difficult if you don’t want to do things exactly her way.

Perl and ColdFusion both seemed kinda cool for about 10 minutes before I came to my senses. Python is just too wierd, and she’s been around the block almost as many times as RoR. And I couldn’t get past the sytnax.

My current programming language mistress is the language all “serious” developers love to hate: PHP. Why PHP? It allows me to focus on my UI without the wasted hours of feeding a bloated middle-tier layer. I’m using the CodeIgniter framework (dammit!, said it myself), and am tickled pink with how easily it allows me to pull everything together. No thousand-line XML config files, just simple productivity.

I might come to my senses again and go back to Java, or I might not. I’ve found a fun-loving, forgiving mistress in PHP/CodeIgniter who just wants to get it on, so it might just be time to move on.