I understand that this is written from an academic point of view and focuses on scientific computing, but writing "upstart PHP grew in size to the point where it is now arguably the most common language for web development" is a serious understatement.
PHP dates back to 1994, and (arguably) became a serious contender with the release of PHP 3 in 1998. PHP pushed out the then-dominant web programming languages ASP (a Visual Basic variant) and ColdFusion, along with Perl. At that time Python and Ruby were not on the web development radar.
PHP is not "arguably the most common language for web development": it's by far the most common. Much of that is due to WordPress, Drupal, and other PHP-based CMSs, but unlike Ruby and Rails, PHP had a large developer base before WordPress and Drupal.
The article also completely ignores JavaScript, which thanks to node.js is gaining web developer mindshare faster than either Python or Ruby, and may push PHP's share down.
[PHP also uses the hated $ to prefix variable names, but that hasn't slowed it down. PHP is not as pretty as Python or Ruby but it's a lot easier to read than Perl.]
"PHP is not as pretty as Python or Ruby but it's a lot easier to read than Perl."
Good Perl is quite readable, and bad PHP, well, you are a fortunate man if you have never encountered any, and a top-notch reader if you have and have found it easy to follow.
PHP dates back to 1994, and (arguably) became a serious contender with the release of PHP 3 in 1998. PHP pushed out the then-dominant web programming languages ASP (a Visual Basic variant) and ColdFusion, along with Perl. At that time Python and Ruby were not on the web development radar.
PHP is not "arguably the most common language for web development": it's by far the most common. Much of that is due to WordPress, Drupal, and other PHP-based CMSs, but unlike Ruby and Rails, PHP had a large developer base before WordPress and Drupal.
The article also completely ignores JavaScript, which thanks to node.js is gaining web developer mindshare faster than either Python or Ruby, and may push PHP's share down.
[PHP also uses the hated $ to prefix variable names, but that hasn't slowed it down. PHP is not as pretty as Python or Ruby but it's a lot easier to read than Perl.]