Comparing Two Most Popular Programming Languages - PHP vs. ASP.NET

There are numerous blogs, articles and forums over the web comparing PHP and ASP.NET. Most of them are biased as they promote one over the other. But choosing either of the programming languages should depend on the requirements of your project. Consequently, this article compares ASP.NET and PHP considering major areas like performance, scalability, cost, etc. So, let’s get started with an overview of each programming language first.

PHP

PHP, meaning Hypertext PreProcessor (formerly known as Personal Home Page), first originated as a scripting tool that quickly gained attention to become the most used programming language over the web. It is simple, easy to learn and use and consists a massive developer community. As per an estimate, PHP currently empowers more than 244 million websites with virtual server support from all major hosts. It is free to use and comprise a number of popular frameworks that eases web development.

ASP.NET

Developed by Microsoft, ASP.NET is a scripting tool to simplify website and web application development. It was developed to replace ASP (Active Server Pages), a server-side script engine developed by Microsoft about 17 years ago. A Dot NET developer can write ASP.NET code using any of the.NET supported languages.

The Comparison

Performance & Speed - People have a common misconception that the performance and speed of a website generally depend on the programming language. But there are several factors that play their role. However, the difference between the performance of PHP and ASP.NET websites is minimal. Many PHP-based web apps use LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) stack which is highly popular for web development. It is well optimized for improving website performance.

On the other hand, Microsoft SQL Server is a widely used database for building ASP.NET applications. Developers can also use MySQL to build PHP and ASP.NET applications. Again the difference between the performance characteristics of ASP.NET plus MySQL and PHP plus MySQL stack is minimal. And the other factors that can impact website performance are operating system and filesystem used on the server. Most statistics on the web reveal that the apps with Linux and ext4 filesystem perform better compared to apps with Windows and NTFS filesystem.

Scalability - Facebook and Google, two of the highest traffic generating websites are built on PHP, while MSN and MySPace, two of the heavyweight websites are built on ASP.NET. This proves that both PHP and ASP.NET are highly scalable programming languages. However, when it comes to scalability, it totally depends on the skill set of your developer and how well they can scale the application to meet your business needs. Having said that, some other factors that are responsible for application scalability comprise:

• Developer’s experience
• Implementing and following best programming practices
• Leveraging a stable programming framework
• Adhering to programming standards and guidelines

Editors and Tools - PHP is editor independent. So, developers can use a wide range of available editors like phpDesigner VIM, Notepad++, Sublime Text. ASP.NET is backed by many IDEs. But most users depend on Microsoft’s Visual Studio IDE to develop.NET and ASP.NET applications. Visual Studio, though not free, is one of the most powerful and flexible IDEs available.

Final Thoughts: As both the languages are powerful in their own ways, it is arduous to conclude which one is better than the other. If you have been working on PHP for more than a decade, switching to ASP.NET could be time-consuming and expensive unless you are familiar with the.NET framework. However, both languages are capable of accomplishing complex tasks in a rapid, dynamic and an independent way. Which one would you prefer for your web project – PHP or ASP.NET? Share your views with us in the comments below.

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