I started off with Javascript, then tried PERL... but that didn't work out well. So I tried C... and C++... but I wasn't getting anywhere fast enough. So back to PERL I went... and that continued the disaster. Finally I switched to a cheaper webhost & they had PHP. Suddenly, I was able to get things done in PHP, and done quickly. That saved my butt in '99. About a year later, I tried getting into PERL again... but it was too much of a hassle. Same with Python. I got a little ways with C, but realized fast that it would take a long time before I'd be good enough to replace my PHP code with C. So, why bother? Eventually... years later... I dove into Python and started taking the time for it. I'm now writing more Python than PHP, but my point is... none of these other programming languages are so well suited to the web as PHP. With PHP, you can just program and get stuff done... barely any need to mess around with things like permissions or setting up things on the server in any way. If these other languages started making it as easy to get started as PHP does -- I think PHP would fade away. Until then, it's easiest for newbies to start life on PHP.