PHP Vs. Asp.Net: Which One To Choose?

It might be pretty challenging to select the right technology stack when it comes to web development. Although it might be possible that some programming language or framework was a perfect match for your previous projects, the final selection should correspond to the ongoing requirements. Due to the wide range of technologies available, the companies have to do extensive research to make the final decision. 

The main goal of web development using several popular programming languages ​​is to provide web applications with a better user experience, scalability, and flexibility. As a result, a growing trend is to provide advanced web applications to empower user experience and engagement and facilitate faster app development.

The market requirements are increasing extremely fast, and the right technology stack could make a massive difference to the web development project. As per Datanyze’s research, ASP.NET and PHP engage over 60% of the market share, becoming the most popular programming languages among web developers. 

Furthermore, both are widely used for different projects. Therefore, it raises the following question PHP Vs. ASP.NET – which one is best for your web development project. So, here we have a comparison guide to help you understand the best technology for your next web app development project. So, before digging further into comparison, let’s first find out what ASP.NET and PHP frameworks are?

What is PHP Development?

PHP is a programming language initially designed for web development, so it’s evident that when someone plans to work with a web project, PHP comes to mind first. Furthermore, PHP development services contain several open-source tools, extensions, and libraries, making it convenient and straightforward for building web products.

Many popular websites like Facebook, WordPress, and YouTube are written in PHP. Therefore, it is suitable for a variety of web applications and is compatible with many different servers. Also, customers are attracted by the reasonable cost and faster app development process since numerous ready-made tools can be found in the community.

PHP has a vast community of over 5 million PHP developers worldwide, so the language is actively developing and expanding. The fact that PHP is open source, and has helped it gain significant market share. However, many web developers start their careers with this programming language. However, the choice for this technology often drops when the web development project needs to be scalable.

Pros and Cons for PHP development

Pros of PHP development:

• • It is open-source and accessible for users.
  • It is also an ideal choice for web scenarios such as web content management systems (CMS) due to its efficient interaction with various databases.
  • You can customize it according to your needs, and it is highly scalable.
  • PHP is the best option for big projects like Facebook.
  • There is a large community of dedicated PHP developers around the world.
  • It is economical and easy to learn, program, and teach.

Cons of PHP development:

• • PHP applications tend to run slower than apps compared to those developed with other programming languages.
  • Customization options can cause errors and poor coding.
  • PHP is generally not suitable for desktop applications because it points to web applications.
  • Compared to other programming languages, PHP is inefficient in error handling. Therefore, it takes more time to detect errors.

What is ASP.NET Development?

Unlike PHP, ASP.NET development is not a programming language. Instead, it’s a C# based framework that unlocks great opportunities for web development. Moreover, ASP.NET development services also contain many libraries and developer tools, making it great for building mobile apps, including dynamic web pages, microservices, REST APIs, and more.

However, unlike PHP development which is free and open-source, ASP.NET is a paid web development platform provided by Microsoft. One of the main differences between ASP.NET and PHP is the approach in which code is executed. PHP has interpreted code that must always be executed on the computer, and in ASP.NET, code is compiled, making it quicker and more organized.

ASP.NET supports all required authentication protocols and ensures complete system security. Microsoft’s technology is constantly improving, and its community is also growing every year, even though it has not yet reached the scale of PHP.

Pros and Cons of ASP.NET development

Pros of ASP.NET development:

• • ASP.NET is highly scalable and evolving rapidly.
  • It is compatible with major programming languages ​​and supports both applications and C #.
  • It is the best platform for business applications.
  • Have the best reputation in the market because it belongs to Microsoft.
  • ASP.NET Developers can locate any error made in the coding before compiling it.
  • ASP.NET guarantees the most outstanding results on Windows.
  • Provide various tools and functions to support programming.
  • ASP.NET Developers can use several pre-coded choices, making a faster app development process.
  • There is an outstanding UI for dot net developers.

Cons of ASP.NET development:

• • ASP.NET only runs on Microsoft servers.
  • For web development purposes, it is less effective than PHP.
  • ASP.NET is based on closed source technology.
  • It is more complicated if we compare ASP.NET over PHP.
  • Smaller supportive ASP.NET developer community.
  • It is more expensive because you need to buy a license from Microsoft.

PHP Vs. ASP.Net: The comparison

Both ASP.NET and PHP offer numerous benefits and simultaneously, have some drawbacks. To determine which is better than the other, we will carefully compare each of them. In this section, we will discuss ASP.NET Vs. PHP: Which is better for web development?

PHP Vs. ASP.NET: A Small Brief

We do not doubt that both these technologies have become thriving ventures and have built many wonderful websites. However, any company beginning the web development project can come across this general question – ASP.NET vs. PHP –  which one is better? There is no doubt that each approach has its benefits.

Both technologies have existed in the market for a long time and have gained special recognition among web developers. But, the question remains new for all of us, particularly those from a non-technical background, and the question is: Which platform should we opt for when starting with the web-apps implementation?

While PHP is a free and open-source platform, on the other hand, ASP.Net is a paid Microsoft platform. In addition, PHP is a combination of a web framework and a programming language, while .NET is a straight application framework.  Therefore, making your final ASP.NET vs. PHP choice primarily depends on the technology sides impacting the app’s overall functionality.

It needs more comprehensive research to comprehend your choices to fulfill ideas in the most suitable way. So now, let’s have a detailed comparison on PHP Vs. Asp.Net based on different criteria. 

PHP vs. ASP.NET: Speed & Performance

The most common misconception about website performance and speed is that the language you pick to code determines the overall performance of your website. In fact, there is a slight difference between the performance of PHP and ASP.NET websites. For instance, take one of the most common tasks of any web application: query a database and output the results on the webserver and eventually to the end user’s browser.

The coding language interacts with the database and the webserver to provide the required results in the above situation. Both ASP.NET and PHP web development are similarly equipped to access file systems, locate images, and show pages on a web server. However, these performances’ speed depends much more on the database server, end user’s computer, bandwidth, etc.

There are many common myths in the business about ASP.NET web development being a more sophisticated language than PHP. On the contrary, ASP.NET avoids irregularities in the code and limits the business applications to write better or easier code.

It is better to select the programming language by evaluating its performances under different circumstances. Those can be outputting the results, accessing and querying the databases, retrieving the file systems, finding an image and sending it to a web server, etc.

Keep Reading: CakePHP Website Speed Optimization

PHP vs. ASP.NET: Market Share

As stated by W3Techs, of all the websites with a recognized server-side programming language, 78.9% are driven by PHP whereas 9.7% by ASP.NET. Additionally, according to another survey conducted by SimilarTech, there are 1,913,085 websites supported by ASP.NET and 5,834,831 by PHP. Therefore, when we talk about the entire web, 8.335% of websites are driven by PHP while 2.733% websites by ASP.NET.

In all prospects, ASP.NET seems to be lagging, specifically when we see these results. Therefore, we can assume that we should go with PHP, but that is not the case, nor the only selecting criteria. Several factors come into play when selecting a programming language or a web development framework.

PHP vs. ASP.NET: Scalability

Both ASP.NET and PHP web frameworks are highly scalable languages. However, for scalability, the language you choose is more important than the developer you specify. By the way, you should consider the state of your business. For example, if you are an entrepreneur and want to develop with Drupal, PHP is the perfect choice over ASP.NET.

If you are looking to hire a mobile app development company or team of developers to build your website, you should refer to the best available talent, whether that talent works in PHP or ASP.NET. So, when it comes to the scalability factor, we can see that both ASP.NET and PHP are highly scalable. And, It depends on how proficient or skilled the developer is when using either of them.

Some of the most heavily trafficked websites, such as Facebook & Wikipedia, are powered by PHP, and on the other hand, websites like Microsoft, StackOverflow, etc., are built using ASP.Net.

PHP vs. ASP.NET: Support

PHP is open-source, and its pool of developers is far more extensive than the Windows based ASP.NET framework. That being said, both possess lively communities that post regularly to online forums, so if you are seeking answers to problems, you’re likely to find both communities supportive.

While the ASP.NET community comprises dedicated developers with fewer collaborators who can post to forums and answer questions about ASP.NET issues. In contrast, PHP is such an extensively used language that many friendly developers are active on different platforms and willing to provide free advice and guidance to those who ask for it.

The major takeaway here is that while you’ll probably be able to find answers to your questions in both communities, you’ll undoubtedly get those answers back more rapidly when working within PHP forums.

PHP vs. ASP.NET: Cost

Cost is the only area where PHP has a distinct benefit over ASP.NET. When we compare PHP over ASP.NET, PHP is open-source, and hence it is totally free, whereas ASP.NET is owned by Microsoft and comes with free web hosting. However, this cost shouldn’t be excessive enough to prevent you from outsourcing a web development company if you have already recognized the approach for your project development

Additionally, it is worth observing that PHP can be used on Mac, Linux, or Windows machines, whereas .NET development services are designed to run only on Windows machines. If you use Mac or Linux, you can make use of the Mono project to use ASP.NET.

PHP vs. ASP.NET: Tools and Editors

Although PHP developers love to work around text editors such as Notepad++ and VIM, there are plenty of great and free IDEs, like Eclipse. However, as far as ASP.NET is concerned, it is backed up by various IDEs, but it might cost you, additionally it is compatible with Microsoft Visual Studio only.

The good part is that ASP.NET IDEs come with a flexible range of features and functionalities that can turn the development procedure into an easy affair. From the learning perspective, ASP.NET holds a tough learning curve written in C# whereas PHP is easy.

PHP vs. ASP.NET: Flexibility and Freedom

Flexibility and freedom are something that every developer wants while working on any development project. So, if we compare ASP.NET over PHP, ASP.NET does not provide that freedom or flexibility.

Being open-source, PHP offers complete freedom to PHP developers from writing code using text editors such as Emacs, Notepad++, Bluefish, jEdit, and the Notepad you use. On the other hand, you can only use Microsoft Visual Studio with ASP.NET while getting multiple OSs for PHP development with limited freedom.

You can utilize PHP on:

• • Linux
  • Windows
  • Mac OSX
  • Unix

PHP vs. ASP.NET: Community Support

PHP is an older programming language, and hence it has a more prominent community than ASP.NET. You can find many active PHP developers on the forum who are always ready to help you. However, both PHP and ASP.NET have an active community forum from which you can get support for all of your problems.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is The Difference Between PHP And ASP.NET?

The difference between PHP and ASP.NET can be made on the following criteria:

• • Code – Interpreted coding is being used in PHP development, whereas in ASP.NET, compiled coding is being used.
  • Scalability – ASP.NET utilizes vertical scalability while PHP uses horizontal one.
  • Security – ASP.NET contains more in-built features as compared to PHP.
  • Solutions – PHP is very effective for small and medium-size projects, while ASP.NET often opts for medium and large-sized ones.

Which Is Faster PHP Or ASP.NET?

Comparing ASP.NET vs. PHP in terms of the faster app development process, ASP.NET is definitely the winner here. It is a quick and effective technique because of the following reasons:

• • Compiled coding supports correct and systematic development
  • Vertical scalability enhances the performance of the services.

Is ASP.NET More Secure Than PHP?

Secure software is an essential requirement for any development. However, its practical implementation relies on the need of the project. For example, if you deal with loads of data, you should utilize ASP.NET for web development. However, if it is a small-size project, PHP is a better option to meet the security requirement.

Which Is Better – ASP.NET Or PHP?

Each technology has substantial benefits and has worked successfully for a variety of projects. The final selection should be made according to the requirements and available resources. Ongoing needs and accessible functionality are the things to concentrate on.

Conclusion

PHP has proved to be a robust development framework with plenty of various open-source, free libraries. However, ASP.NET also has numerous benefits; for example, if you utilize ASP.NET for Large Enterprises, it comes out as a winner in every perspective.

PHP has a substantial open-source community, and you can get multiple solutions online. Additionally, Microsoft has a vast community of .NET developers that you can reach to take any assistance. However, there will not be as many open-source solutions as you will be able to get in PHP.

The selection of PHP vs. ASP.NET becomes easy when the developers know all the exact technical requirements. Then, it becomes easy to evaluate the benefits of these technologies accurately. Therefore, it is vital to take time and assess the needs of your project. Additionally, it is always helpful if you take assistance from a reputed mobile app development company like Explorate Global to pick the right technology.