This is a question that people ask me every time I release a small project (like BlogFile) in PHP. There's often assertions made that I should "learn a real language", like python or ruby. There's a bit of general PHP hate ("I'd rather stab my eyes with hot pokers than use PHP"; "PHP is to programming what nails through the genitals is to sex"; I have some inventive friends). In general, it always boils down to one question: "Why PHP?"