[osflash] Next step... Flash->Flex? php+amfphp->java+openAMF?

[Nicolas Cannasse]

> Usually, with larger (LAMP) applications, the first thing that needs to 
> scale is the database.. Your application can probably run on 1 
> PHP/Apache server for a while (maybe a second for redundancy) but your 
> mysql server will be the first that hits 100% CPU.

It depends a lot of the structure of your application and the complexity 
of the database requests you are doing.

Also, if you start doing a bit more complex things such as interpreting 
an HTML template language, and wrapping your database tables into plain 
objects (such as SPOD - see http://haxe.org/tutos/spod). If you want 
also to have a scalable architecture that types correctly, then a more 
highlevel language is needed.

A lot of people for example where very happy to move from ActionScript 1 
to ActionScript 2, not for performances differences since both where 
running exactly the same, but only to be able to get additional checks 
and compile-time typing. Nobody who has experienced AS2 would like to 
get back to AS1 to write a complete RIA for instance. The lack of typing 
would be a real hassle.

OTOH, you're true that Apache scales well, since it can be distributed 
on several servers and the Mysql/Apache combinaison is a good 
architecture. I haven't tried any Java Server but they're often reported 
as being huge resource consumers, especialy in memory, although Java 
itself runs very fast now.

That's some of the reasons why haXe targets the NekoVM, which can run 
into a "mod" for Apache just like PHP does. You get additional 
performances (NekoVM is around 30 times faster than PHP), and the 
ability to use an high-level language such as haXe to program your whole 
website with compile-time typechecking.

Somehow, the best of both worlds.

Nicolas