FaceBook Converting From PHP on Its Site – Is WordPress Next?
It’s true – FaceBook is moving from PHP to compiled PHP – with a performance gain of about 50% over PHP.
The move, using an in-house compiler program, HopHop, takes the original PHP code and translates it to C++ code, with then can be compiled and run on the Web server as a program.
As another benefit, FaceBook has released the HipHop compiler as Open Source, meaning anyone can convert/compile their PHP code.
C++, a language that allows very fast low-level access to computer hardware, is traditionally preferred for fast programs. In contrast to PHP, C++ is however more difficult to learn and program. Using a compiler like HipHop marries the strengths of the two; PHP code for fast development, and then C++ for speed and performance.
One disadvantage of the resulting code is that it is less portable. Unlike PHP, which can be run on just about any web server, different processors need different C++ program formats, so the code will need to recompiled for every processor/Operating system it is run on.
Despite the disadvantages, a 50% speed improvement is no small thing for FaceBook – and with close to 1/2 billion members, it translates into a lot less servers needed to run all those pages..
So now that we can turn PHP into faster C++ code the next question comes up: will anyone compile WordPress for speed?
Facebook is not WordPress. There is a huge difference between Facebook running in an environment controlled by themselves and WordPress which, except on wordpress.com, is not.
WP needs an increase in speed but that is not going to be down to compiling but rather to improvements in the way the code runs under php, which is to say, it will not happen.
Can you imagine the nightmare of running and supporting multiple flavours of WP AND managing the upgrade cycle. No way!
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