In the old days MySQL was a no no compared with PostGres, but the InnoDB storage engine resolved the problems by putting a proper engine in place rather than something that didn't do record locking. These days, though still slightly quirky, MySQL seems about as good as anything else - databases are commodity software really and the core functionality of a database isn't much different.
The only trouble I have with PHP is the slightly odd typing system so you sometimes get little oddities, and the DIY OOP stuff is rather odd. However, for knocking up a website it is good. The main problem is not in PHP per se but in trying to split out presentation from logic. All in all though, PHP is a practical, pragmatic language, unlike C++ which if you get involved in STL, boost and all that clever templating (as opposed to simple templating), simply gets unfathomable for not just your average programmer, but your better than average programmer*. C++ can end up being too dense - hidden language features mean that you cannot simply look at code and know what is going to happen.
Be grateful ColdFusion has just about died out.
* Me (IMG:
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Should Wikipedia's software be rewritten in Ruby on Rails?
LamontStormstar Should Wikipedia's software be rewritten in Ruby on Rails? 
