HipHop instead of XCache?

Question

Can I switch to HipHop instead of XCache?

Is HipHop ready for prime time or should we wait a few months before it is implemented?

Edit: we are interested in checking the configuration on the server running vBulletin.

Answer 1

Let me clear up the misconception about Hiphop and Xcache. XCache works by adding Opcode caching to the ZEND implementation of PHP (like APC and friends), while Facebook HipHop allows you to convert PHP code to C ++ code and then compile with g ++. It is not possible to start XCache using HipHop, because HipHop is independent of the Zend interpreter (and does not even use php opcodes when compiling to bytecode after converting to C ++).

Now, to answer your question, HipHop is used live to host a lot of Facebook traffic. Facebook will not release this project if it is not stable, but since it is very new, I will still be careful. HipHop is not just a patch for the old Zend Interpreter, it is a completely different way to run PHP code and will probably contain several errors.

One thing Facebook did to make sure Hiphop worked before they switched to it was that they were able to set up very strict unit tests for every possible request on their site. Thus, if the exit from Hiphop is different from the usual Zend PHP, they will come back and debug a bit more until everything “works for them”. Just because it “works” based on Facebook code does not prove that it will work for you. If you decide to switch to HipHop, make sure it is well tested.

EDIT:

HHVM (new version of HP HPP) can now eval and create_function . They should be the same for all / the most significant reasons.

There are several things that are not compatible with HipHop. They removed the eval and create_function . They also support PHP 5.2.x just now, but plan to add support in 5.3 soon.

Answer 2

I like the idea of ​​HipHop, so don't get me wrong here, but there is something to remember: HipHop is not for everyone. From Sebastian Bergmann :

this is not a solution to the problem 99.9% of PHP deployments face there

If you have a fraction of the traffic in Facebook format, and your bottleneck is the use of a processor or memory, you are unlikely to see much benefit (compared to xcache, apc, etc.). Access to the database and file system will continue to be your killer.

Answer 3

I am sure vbulletin 3.x will not work with HipHop. The VB 3 plugin system consists of nearly 2,000 conditional statements sprinkled throughout the code, and eval is not supported by hiphop.

This is probably just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to compiling vbulletin.