InfoWorld: Does PHP displace Java on the server side?

Gutmans: No, I don't think it completely displaces Java. .. I think there is a bit of an overlap. And there's no doubt that there is a trend moving from Java to PHP for Web applications, because Java is too complicated and takes too much time to develop. But there are certain areas where you'd continue to use Java and you wouldn't use PHP. For example, in non-Web related things such as back-end finance systems that [do] two-phase commits, transaction management, message queues. You wouldn't use PHP there.

InfoWorld: What's going on with Zend and PHP as far as the Eclipse platform?

Gutmans: Zend joined IBM and we partner with IBM to develop PHP language support in Eclipse. We joined the Eclipse Foundation as a strategic developer. I am Zend's board member on the Eclipse Foundation's board. And we really see this as an opportunity to significantly increase the ecosystem around PHP. [We want to] allow companies to leverage the PHP work we're doing in Eclipse and provide their users, in most cases Java users, very good integration with PHP.

InfoWorld: You don't see any clash between what Zend is doing and what you're doing with Eclipse in PHP?