Zeev Suraski has a new post over on his blog today that has the answer to one of the constant struggles for PHP developers out there working in a non-PHP setting - Selling PHP to the Boss - a piece of cake.

"How do I sell PHP to my boss?" was one of the key questions that I had to deal with personally in the past. The answer that was always given was based purely on technological merit - it was clear that nothing we (community, Zend, or both) can do can match the mammoth marketing power that was pushing the commercial or even free (Java based) alternatives.

Years and years of relentless work to change the world's perception have finally paid off. Today, the same powers are now beginning to push PHP itself, especially into places where it stood no chance to penetrate in the past. And it's not just marketing either - the OCI8 extension and the new SDO extension are just two initial examples of how this involvement is going to translate into additional 'tangible' benefits for the PHP community.

I definitely agree with him - 2005 really has been a large turning point for PHP. It's been about more than just the new features and the introduction of PHP5 to the world - there's just been a real community push and several huge advancements in the language (and in the web as a whole) that have fueled the surge...