It might be worth checking out slim https://www.slimframework.com/ which is a pretty simple PHP microframework (similar to flask for the python users reading). That should lower the barrier of entry for contributors and allow you to get set up quickly

On Tue, Jan 23, 2018 at 4:30 PM, Justin W. Flory <jflory7@gmail.com> wrote:
On 01/23/2018 02:45 PM, Chris Bitler wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I've been trying to figure out what to use as the backend technology for
> my FOSS Projects project, since it is a website, specifically a site for
> college gaming clubs to run large LAN events. I've narrowed it down to
> the javaspark microwebserver library, spring-boot in java, or using
> symfony w/ php. However, each of these has their own problems.
>

Hey Chris, this is a great discussion for the mailing list – thanks for
starting this here.

From a technical POV, I am not an expert, so I can't advise on what
project is better for the work you'd like to do. I think that's
something for you to research. I have a few thoughts on other things.

> Spark seems to have commits made to it every few weeks, but it has pull
> requests that been sitting there with no response for over half a year.
> The same could be said about the issues on the project, many have no
> response. This presents an issue with the community aspect.
>

This makes me skeptical. Especially since you are looking to contribute
to a project, I see this as a frustrating experience if you put in work
and don't get any feedback. It doesn't seem like the maintainers
prioritize community contributions.

> If I use java for the project, I could use JUnit as my community instead
> (unit testing tool that I would be using). The reason for using java is
> that it presents a lower barrier to entry for contributing to the
> project than PHP, and I have more experience with it than PHP.
>

JUnit seems fair. I would research their community to support your decision.

> However, Symfony has a much more active community with many more
> resources for people to use in the community. My only issue is that PHP
> tends to be a higher barrier to people contributing to the project
> because not everyone knows or likes it.
>

I have a qualm with this, maybe only because I saw this tweet this morning:

    https://twitter.com/joshsimmons/status/955327749639487488

Since you are developing a web application, I think you will find more
people able to help with it as a JS / PHP project. While Java web
servers are in use, I don't know if they're the most common platform. I
think you could better connect with an audience of front-end and
back-end web developers by using a PHP project. And I think more people
are familiar or comfortable with it than you know too. :)

> I'm not really sure what would be the best path to take here, and would
> love some opinions.
>

Again, this isn't really technical advice, but some of my thoughts based
on your situation. Hope this is helpful.

--
Cheers,
Justin W. Flory
jflory7@gmail.com


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