ASP vs PHP

[Kenneth Keen]

If you had the chance to learn either one of these languages what would it be?

 

[user-7256]

ASP is old, archaic, lacks powerful object-oriented design features, and is hardly supported by a growing community anymore.

PHP is a more reasonable route.

 

[nasaboy007]

php, just because its much more intuitive, has MUCH, much better documentation, and is generally considered the leading web scripting language.

im fluent w/ php, but i had to try to learn asp for a client - after about a month of struggling just to find out how to display text (ok, exaggerated, but you get the point), i decided to focus on getting the client to switch to a php based server. there was no documentation anywhere and also the error handling for asp is not the best - php, on the other hand, tells you exactly what's wrong and exactly where.

 

[Kate]

ASP is when you're developing on windows, but windows has never been good for web servers :imho:

 

[Keral_Patel]

PHP as most of the webmasters tend to get PHP supported servers. ASP servers costs a bit more then the PHP ones due to the opensource license of PHP.

Thus there are more PHP applications and more chances to even find a client who will need PHP services.

 

[Skeeter]

It depends on your environment. Asp is for Windows hosts and PHP is typically for linux although you can host PHP from Windows Server as well.

Also, are you talking ASP or ASP.NET There is a big difference between the two. I come from the world of .NET and love it but I also like PHP as well for my personal projects since the hosting is usually much cheaper. I am not very fluent in PHP but as others have mentioned there is a wonderful developer network behind it, as well as great documentation.

.Net hosting with MS SQL database is usually a lot more expensive then PHP with MY SQL. Just something else to keep in mind as you weight the options.

 

[shig]

skeeter explained perfectly... uses for both. Most will go with .net now days if working with asp. I work with .net developers and they really don't care to work with classic asp. So... personally I would go with php. Put like skeeter says... I would base it on the specific server you are using.

 

[Shafik]

ASP is a Microsoft technology (Active Server Pages). PHP is a free, open-source (I think) technology. (Hypertext Preprocessor).

Both languages have their advantages specific to users. Some would argue that both the languages have their own importance and depending on the user’s requirements the language and the platform can be chosen. If we talk about developing a discussion board then ASP is equally capable but many feel the best discussion boards are developed in PHP. If a user is looking for some e-commerce application development then many would call ASP the ideal choice. This does not mean that PHP cannot provide e-commerce solutions, only that many people choose ASP.

From my perspective, PHP is an all around better choice than ASP.

 

[Peter]

ASP is a Microsoft technology (Active Server Pages). PHP is a free, open-source (I think) technology. (Hypertext Preprocessor).

That is correct but PHP is owned by Zend.

Both languages have their advantages specific to users. Some would argue that both the languages have their own importance and depending on the user’s requirements the language and the platform can be chosen. If we talk about developing a discussion board then ASP is equally capable but many feel the best discussion boards are developed in PHP. If a user is looking for some e-commerce application development then many would call ASP the ideal choice. This does not mean that PHP cannot provide e-commerce solutions, only that many people choose ASP.

Bottom line is PHP is good for a lot of tasks and likewise ASP is equally good for other tasks. If you are comfortable with 1 there isn't much reason to learn the other. PHP does have the advantage that is wider supported however imho.

 

[cerebus]

That is correct but PHP is owned by Zend.

No, Zend has only done contributions to the PHP project. Very important such in the light of todays PHP, but they do in no way own PHP or even decide about its development path.

 

[Peter]

If Zend did not exist PHP as we know it would not be able to run. PHP sits on top of the Zend engine.

 

[atomicca]

both of them has a diff advantage and maybe function too...

PHP -> more web-processing
ASP/ASP.Net -> more SQL/Database-processing

 

[highvoltz]

PHP is like the Firefox for development. Works on just about any server you run it on from Windows to Linux.

Some of the biggest websites out there, such as facebook use PHP.

 

[coolman009]

I would say that you should go for php....as php is far better than .asp and more features are there in php....it also depends on the mood of the designer...but according to me .php is the best....

 

[EGS]

Well, both PHP and ASP.net are powerful. I'd have to say ASP.net is more powerful but for the basics stick with free open source PHP.

 

[djdeth]

PHP... end of story. .net is only useful if you need to use API's and such. PHP is faster, more secure, etc. As you can tell I am biased with PHP.

 

[Skeeter]

You should also take some time to browse the various forums and get familiar with the support communities for the different languages.

HINT - Notice that NP does not have a .NET section. NP is a great community and if you plan on using the support network here then choice is clear. PHP


Speaking Of - Where are the .Net threads for those of us who have been herded down that path???? I know I'm not the only one. :hehe: To me PHP and .NET both rock in their own rights.

 

[SGBoise]

For me it's asp.net. The biggest reason is OOP. Although php 5 supports OOP it's not as easy mainly because of IDE. Visual Studio is really the best IDE out there. Unfortunately php doesn't have anything near close to Visual Studio.

I've tried them all.

 

[yenerich]

If you had the chance to learn either one of these languages what would it be?

ASP.NET

Not because i like, but becauise its easier and more used on big companies.

PHP is more for small developers like us (personally i use PHP), but if you want to make jobs for large companies, go for ASP.NET

Also, its very easy.

 

[ads_min02]

Learn PHP if you intended to deploy the apps on the internet -> cheaper hosting cost, good security on the webserver.
Learn ASP.NET if you intended to deploy it on your company intranet or your client intranet (internal use only) -> lot of interactive component out there (licensed or free)

Both language have adequate documentation I think.