When it comes to selecting the better out of the best especially in the world of technologies, it is a tough call. With so many technologies being offered, organizations need to take a call based on their requirements, budget, and expertise.
When it comes to two leading technologies in the world of web applications, especially progressive web applications, ASP .NET and PHP are leading the path.
Both ASP .NET and PHP are being leveraged by a wide number of developers worldwide for web development. Both have their own set of characteristics to boast of. Some similar, some quite varying. Both have been in the IT industry since long, have established their names and are preferred by many.
To understand them better, let us firstly have a look at the individually and then compare them vividly.
ASP .NET – An Overview
ASP.NET is an open-source, server-side web-application framework designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. It was developed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, applications and services. – Wikipedia
ASP .NET, powered by the tech giant Microsoft, is an open source, cross platform, and free framework to construct web applications and services with .NET and C#. It is supported on Windows, Linux and macOS.
.NET, being a popular developer platform consists of multiple tools, languages, and libraries. ASP .NET comes up as an extension to the .NET developer platform clubbed with relevant tools and libraries.
ASP .NET
- Has faster performance as compared to other web frameworks
- Supports industry specification verification protocols
- Supports multi-factor authentication with Google, Twitter etc.
- Has an active community support
Key Characteristics
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- High-end performance, one of the fastest web app framework
- Independent of language selection and utilizes asynchronous programming patterns
- Enriched development infrastructure, cross platform with container support
- Supports HTML5 form types, action filters, web sockets, globalization, and localization
- Facilitates developers to make best use of all technologies like Docker, Kubernetes etc.
- Possesses unified MVC and Web API frameworks with simplified development
- Supports multiple environment modes and development approaches along with extensible action filters
- In-built dependency injection, web sockets and cross-site request forgery protection (CSRF Protection)
- Creation of self-hosted ASP .NET web applications
Organizations/Websites Leveraging ASP .NET
Microsoft, Dell, Visual Studio, Tacobell.com, Marketwatch.com, WildTangent, Alaska, GoDaddy, Raygun, Stack Overflow, UPS, Slack, Master Card, Space X, GrubHub, Roblox etc.
PHP – An Overview
PHP is a general-purpose scripting language especially suited to web development. PHP originally stood for Personal Home Page,but it now stands for the recursive initialism PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. – Wikipedia
PHP is a popular, easy to learn and widely accepted open source scripting language. PHP scripts are executed on the server, are free to use and download. Being one of the most powerful technologies, it is at the foundation of WordPress – one of the most popular blogging system on the web.
As easy as it is to adapt, it turns out to be a developer’s first server-side language. PHP files have text, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP code. In PHP, the code is implemented on the server and the output is sent back to the browser as plain HTML.
PHP
- Produces active page content
- Executes on multiple platforms like Unix, Linux, Windows, Mac OS X
- Produces output in the form of images, PDF, XML, Flash movies etc.
- Supports a wide range of databases
Key Characteristics
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- Enhanced error handling, fast, logical, and flexible
- Compatibility with most popular servers like IIS, Apache etc.
- Has good support for stricter type declarations for function arguments
- Generates dynamic page content and performs data encryption
- Execution on the server with support for newer operators
- Sends/receives cookies, collects form data
- Management of databases, dynamic content, session tracking
- Easy integration with major databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase etc.
- Good support for main protocols like IMAP, POP3, LDAP
- Possesses C like syntax and supports n-tier architecture
- Simple, efficient, secure, flexible and possesses restriction to user access
Organizations/Websites Leveraging PHP
Facebook, Wikipedia, Slack, Tumblr, MailChimp, Etsy, Daily Motion, WordPress, Flickr, Yahoo!, Flipkart, Baidu etc.
ASP .NET and PHP – Comparing the Two
Before we investigate the differences between the two, here are certain common characteristics that signify that both are competitive in the IT world:
- They possess high level of scalability and can be scaled either ways based on need
- Speed and performance for both is quite good and competitive
- Both have a huge backing of a community support and hence answers to queries are easily found
- They have a widespread base and are liked by millions of developers worldwide
| ASP .NET | PHP | |
| Date of Release | 2002 | 1995 |
| Category of Technology | Server-side web application platform by Microsoft | General purpose, server-side scripting programming language |
| Community Support | Committed community support with many developers | Huge community support since open sourced |
| Cost of Usage | Costs involved for web hosting, licenses | Free to use |
| Best of Use When | There is a need to develop a secure website | There is a need for client-facing UIs |
| Assistance to Organizations | Large to medium sized enterprises | Small to medium sized organizations |
| Speed of Execution | Fast speed of execution for all types of apps | Fast for all apps but a tad slower for desktop apps |
| Suitable at its finest for | Enterprise level CRM
Enterprise level websites ERP apps |
CRM
Small business websites Startups |
| Learning Curve | Difficult to learn and gain expertise | Simple to learn |
| Tools and Editors | A variety of IDEs, with a lot of features, come with a cost | Limited free IDEs, text editors like Notepad++ |
| Operating Systems | Microsoft Visual Studio | Linux, Windows, Unix, Mac OS X |
As We Wrap Up
The comparison between the two tech stalwarts – ASP .NET and PHP is never ending. Both have proven their value in their respective areas and there are millions of developers to certify their mettle.
Choosing either of them totally depends upon multiple factors. ASP .NET would be most suitable if you want to create an enterprise level website/app, ERP app or highly secure website. PHP would be recommended in case of startups, small and medium sized websites.
Either ways, it is a win-win situation provided you have analysed your organizational requirements to the finest!