Thread:User talk:Pastakhov/Some ideas regarding PhpTags/reply (8)

Regarding communicating the ideas and not being understood by other developers, it seems to me that there's very different ideas about what scripting is to be used for. I think this may play a part, and that it is perhaps also related to which approach people take to wikis and the software they use. For example, Wikimedia is fairly conservative – the Wikipedias don't generally embrace new extensions that change how things are done, especially not how the content is structured and what is stored. (Some interface and workflow changes are exceptions.) So to them, scripting is not about combining the functionality of extensions – because they have fairly few things to combine. Instead, each "module" they write is like a little "extension" in itself, in the form of a script which uses more "standard" means. Together, the collection of such scripts forms a big codebase inside the wiki, used to accomplish tasks.

At present, Scribunto is more suited to that kind of scripting. It requires sometimes large "modules" which depend on other modules – the modules build on one another to provide functionality.

Then there are people who have a different approach to wiki software in general. You could say it is more "progressive" in the sense of a willingness to explore and experiment with new functionality and new ways of doing things. That includes advanced extensions that greatly change the "way" things are done on a wiki. Such people will notice both what is made possible by the software they use and/or develop, and the limitations. And then ideas such as PhpTags and "magic expressions" can more easily make sense: use scripts to combine all that advanced functionality you're interested in, removing the limitations and using it the way you'd like to. So I think such developers are the most likely to be interested.

Finally, you will probably find that this question of "conservative vs. progressive" is a spectrum, a little bit like the political spectrum. In other words, you will also find a lot of people somewhere in the middle. Most of them (whether users and/or developers) are probably going to be more hesitant, waiting until they see something concrete done that they also find would work for them.

Anyway, that's what I think regarding Scribunto vs. PhpTags: They are intended for two different problems – and which solution makes the most sense depends on which problem you think in terms of.