Comments on: PQuery – PHP and jQuery

By: aksival

aksival — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:55:40 +0000

I’ll agree that it’s sloppy to use JavaScript code inline with HTML…this is something that we all did at one point in time and [most of us] eventually got out of the habit. I suppose it has its uses in some applications, but I prefer not to whenever possible. External JS files are the way to go for clarity, cleanliness, and code recycling.

I also agree that generating JavaScript code with PHP is not the best idea. In many case I found that it was easier to send a variable from PHP to JS that way, but with a little more effort you can to do it the “right” way, so there really isn’t any point in ever doing this, in my opinion.

I think a more useful solution for a helper would be an app that generates your HTML, JavaScript, and PHP in separate, readable files. This way you could create simple, yet functional foundations using the automated tools and build on them as needed. Seems to me it would be the best solution that would satisfy both the amateur and expert developers, and still be easily maintainable.

By: armandopadilla

armandopadilla — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:17:20 +0000

for all the negative comment authors on this thread. Have you guys/gals ever played around with JSF’s IceFaces or RichFaces? Seems like the java community has something to offer the PHP community when it comes to integrating js with code. This project looks good and reminds me a bit of that.

Dont knock this idea just because its a new idea or threatens your 3lit3 js status. It has great potential and to be honest Javascript is a mess to deal with in a large scale environment even when you follow the guide lines.

My 2 cents and looking forward to another release.

By: Zach Leatherman

Zach Leatherman — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:43:13 +0000

I came to this page hoping to see a utility that let me parse an HTML document using CSS selectors server side in PHP.

What do you think about that idea instead?

It would make for nice screen scraping and maybe even for manipulating DOM on the server (to return a new HTML result to the client).

By: portraits

portraits — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 04:52:57 +0000

Do you have any handbook or reference guide for this? I admit I donâ€™t have much knowledge on jQuery but I heard that it will be part of my daily tasks soon. Hope you can help me.

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 15:18:04 +0000

Quote: “you wouldnt use PHP for formatting HTML and using loops to build tables.”

That is correct, I would not use PHP for formatting HTML. I would use an interface language such as Javascript or CSS. I do not generate HTML using PHP, I generate variables and make substitutions into HTML templates using PHP. I pass back XML or JSON data from AJAX calls and use Javascript and CSS to re-apply the data to an HTML page.

When your application gets larger, try to find all of your embedded HTML within your PHP code when you need to make an interface change. Sounds counter-intuitive to me. Why should you modify PHP to change your interface?? What if you want the same code to now produce XML instead of HTML?? Or even, just generate pre-formatted text.

This solution works well for a “one-man-shop” but not for a multi-developer environment with each developer at a different skill level. Use it as you feel necessary but understand the long-term implications before doing so. To each their own but I for sure do not support this idea.

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:03:05 +0000

Part of developing applications for the web is learning how to separate your interface from your functionality. This implementation clearly tries to combine the two which is completely against this fundamental law.

Another note, jQuery is an implementation layer based on Javascript, not a replacement for writing HTML code. Ditch this concept and learn to write Javascript separately, it can only help you in the long run.

By: fragrances

fragrances — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:13:27 +0000

In general, I would tend to agree with those calling for civility. Of course, Iâ€™m the sort of person who always thinks civility is better than the alternatives. But with Ajax, I think the importance is even greater, since the whole point of this exercise is to promote cooperation and sharing. Harsh criticism only stunts the process, not to mention demonstrating to some developers that taking the risk of putting your work out there simply isnâ€™t worth it. That doesnâ€™t really help anyone. That being said, I do think there is a sizeable portion of the dev community who feel that these sorts of â€œhelpersâ€ do significant harm (though I do wonder if perhaps some of this is just driven by bravado). I think itâ€™s always useful to know what the â€œpoliticalâ€ perspective towards certain kinds of programs is, and those who have posted have certainly provided that. I simply think they might have done so more diplomatically. But in todayâ€™s political climate, maybe this is as â€œdiplomaticâ€ as it gets.

By: soldier

soldier — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:33:35 +0000

While I may not find this all too useful, I don’t think it’s necessary to degrade this coder. Why spit on his work? It doesn’t help him. A previous response stated to try to make more constructive criticism. Here’s mine:

Take in the positive parts of the previous posters. They have some insite on what they’re talking about. They may come off as stupid with the manner they present themselves but just ignore that and be the better person.

By: splatch

splatch — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 17:38:47 +0000

Using PHP to generate Javascirp code? What for? Is that clear and nice?
In my opinion not! What wheen user doesn’t accept javascript? The page are broken.
Ajax yes, but not from PHP code. That’s toad going to nothing. The dynamic elements should be added by browser from behaviour.

By: wluigi

wluigi — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 15:05:37 +0000

you should propose it to cakephp !

By: Vikas

Vikas — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:46:24 +0000

Some pretty harsh replies in here , looks like some people don’t like the whole concept of helpers, PQuery and “Global Warming” man what comparisons. Well for all those who feel that this shouldn’t be done , there is a group who is thankful and will use it (including me).

I never intended to mess things up,my intentions were to get things done faster,easier and in a language im good at ( PHP in case of web dev ) and a JS library which i liked. I could have wrote each and every event handler,effect,Ajax request in a separate file but i work with custom CMS’s and frameworks most of the GUI/HTML is auto generated from Databases and XML, so i like everything in one place. I have other reasons too … but i think they’ll spark more debates so ill refrain.

Im not forcing you to use them ,so rather than criticizing it and wasting your time, do something constructive.

By: Bhasker V Kode

Bhasker V Kode — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:28:16 +0000

Here’s the link http://bosky101.blogspot.com/2007/02/introducing-tvhtmlhelper-and-tagcreator.html

By: Bhasker V Kode

Bhasker V Kode — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:27:17 +0000

Hey ,
i just checked this out today,and i think i have a more scalable version of this ,which i call tvHTMLHelper .check it out here . Ive even commented on a few pitfalls in pQuery which ive taken care of .

Even hacked up a small Tag Creator using my library ,after seeing this post .

Keep Clicking,
Bhasker V Kode

By: Rey Bango

Rey Bango — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 18:40:04 +0000

@David: I respect your opinion my man. How about explaining why helpers are a problem? It would to quantify your statement so that it sounds reasonable. From the subsequent replies, its seems that some actually like helpers and you might be able to help them understand some sticking points.

By: Rey Bango

Rey Bango — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 18:37:05 +0000

@jd: Thx man! :o)

By: Richard Thomas

Richard Thomas — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 18:04:10 +0000

Theres nothing wrong with helpers but you need to not draw the line between helping use jquery and auto mangling html. I don’t want a php library trying to force me to use its generated form tags and such.

My page should be able to be a simple non-dynamic html page if I want that calls php through jquery.

My demo of something to this sort
http://www.cyberlot.net/demos/phpjquery/

Its not pretty it is a old proof of concept pre jquery 1.1.1

By: Phillip Jacobs

Phillip Jacobs — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:59:52 +0000

This isn’t the end all be all of helpers. Although it’s a great start (0.1 release COME ON!!). Don’t bash helpers if you don’t need them, just understand why they exist. If I’m a developer that mainly writes business logic, and work for a company that from one day to the next expects web2.0 javascript doodles without any man power incr, or anything, a helper library in the language I’m used to. In the enviornment I’m comfortable with, is a great help.

By: Alexandre Plennevaux

Alexandre Plennevaux — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:28:29 +0000

helpers are good for those of us that are more familiar to php than javascript. but it should have a logic of storing all generated javascript on an external file. which would create quite an unmaintainable mess. Personally i prefer to keep things a little bit less automated and have an understandable file organisation. I’m not saying it is impossible with helpers, i just haven’t seen it done yet.

By: jd

jd — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:12:28 +0000

I second Rey Bango.

By: David

David — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:46:01 +0000

Constructive criticism: flush it down the toilet. These “helpers” are the worst plague the web has ever seen and I dare to say they are just as much of a danger to this planet as global warming. This stuff is wrong and useless and harmful by any stretch of the imagination.