Choosing between PHP and ASP.NET for web development is a tough task, specifically so because one is simply a programming language and the other is a web framework.
As both PHP and ASP.NET are popular technologies and highly preferred by development for web application development, it becomes extremely to choose between one.
So, we decided to create PHP vs ASP.NET comparison guide to help beginners and business owners from non-technical background to pick the one for their web application development project.
PHP Vs ASP.NET: An Overview
The Essentials Of PHP Architect
Hypertext Preprocessor abbreviated as PHP is known popularly as an open source scripting language. Used generally for web development, PHP is easy to embed with HTML. PHP is popular for a number of reasons and one of the best is the framework offers easy coding techniques, a reason enough for beginners to have a soft corner for this programming language.
A Brief On ASP.NET
Developed by Microsoft, ASP.NET is a server- side web development tool. The web application development framework helps develop dynamic web pages, which is one of the reasons for its popularity. Being a Windows-based platform, ASP.NET offers multiple environment and development modes. It thus becomes easier for beginners also to create APIs and build web forms.
Source: Pixelcrayons
PHP Vs. ASP.NET: The Comprehensive Comparison
Comparison On Speed And Performance
Before we talk about the speed and the performance, let me acknowledge you with some facts that are equally essential for determining a website’s speed. PHP and APS.NET websites differ just a bit in regards to the performance. Here is an example to illustrate how a website’s speed is measured.
Let’s start it with a basic example. The primary task of any website is to output the result of a query database in order to show the results ultimately to the user’s browser.
So, the scenario here is, there is simple communication between the database and the web server to produce the output.
In the case of PHP and ASP.NET, both are equally equipped to access files, and find images. The speed of all these performances depend much on the database server, end user’s system, and bandwidth, etc.
Many beginners may not be aware that the speed of ASP.NET websites is comparatively better than that of PHP. More to this, ASP.NET allows parallel programming to support coding structure that run all the time. In the case of PHP, it doesn’t allow threading at all.
PHP Programming Suits Best To PHP.NET Suits Best To
| CRMs | Enterprise Level CRMs |
| Small Business Websites | Enterprise Level Websites |
| Billing/Invoicing Websites | Intranet |
| Startups | ERP Apps |
Comparison On Popularity
In terms of popularity, PHP does have a higher graph than its competitor. There are a few reasons that offer PHP more popularity than its counterpart. Statistics show that PHP has 67% of the share while ASP.NET’s percentage is less than 50%.
That being said it’s nothing like ASP.NET is not favored by developers today. The language is growing exceptionally well among the developers. This comparison here is worth an example to illustrate the ongoing popularity of this framework.
Comparison On Scalability
On the radar of scalability, both PHP and ASP.NET are incredibly scalable. However, while choosing the preferred language, it is far better to consider the state of the business to choose the right platform.
PHP is suited to the websites having Drupal in their core. The fact that PHP comes with the lowest learning curve makes it the best for such a development.
Moreover, the scalability quotient of PHP and ASP.NET is quite high. As a matter of fact the world’s most traffic-rich websites like Facebook and Wikipedia, use PHP. While websites like Microsoft and StackOverflow use ASP.NET.
Comparison On Cost
This area is probably the one where PHP has a distinct advantage over ASP.NET. The reason behind this benefit is PHP is open source while ASP.NET is owned by Microsoft that charges a minimal web hosting fee.
Worth noting, PHP can be used on Linux, Mac, and Windows systems while ASP.NET services are only meant to be used on Windows machine.
However, there is a minimal cost but developers don’t mind paying the same to use the programming language for website development.
PHP vs ASP.NET: An Extended Comparison Chart
Factors ASP.NET PHP
| Type | Web application framework created by Microsoft | Server-side scripting language created by Rasmus Lerdorf |
| Support | Large to medium size enterprise applications | Small to medium sized web solutions |
| Cost | License cost attached | Freely available all over the web |
| Solutions | More focused on Security and functionalities | More focused on client facing, user interfaces |
| Community | Dedicated community with the fewer developers | Large size community since its open source |
| Security | Highly secure | Less built-in security feature than .NET |
| Speed | Decent speed, fast enough for desktop application | Not suitable and slower for desktop application |
| Customization | Less prone to customization | Allow customization causes bugs, thus poor coding than .NET |
Source: EDUCBA
PHP Development: A Brief On Pros And Cons
The Pros
- It is an open source language, meaning it is free to use and has the support of an ever-growing developers’ community.
- PHP is the best choice to consider for large projects such as Facebook.
- PHP is highly effective in communicating with various database types. This makes the programming language the best fit for web-based scripts.
- The programming language is highly scalable and easy to customize as well.
- Low-cost development, easy to learn curve.
The Cons
- The programming language is not suitable for creating a desktop application.
- In comparison with the similar programming languages, PHP apps tend to run slow.
- PHP allows customization that sometimes causes bugs and poor coding.
ASP.NET Development: A Brief On Pros And Cons
The Pros
- ASP.NET is highly scalable, which makes it a great competitor to PHP.
- This framework supports all programming language C#.
- Supports coding and helps developers find out mistakes.
- Fast development with a lot of pre loaded coding.
- Excellent for enterprise application development.
The Cons
- Deep learning curve
- Smaller community support
- Based on closed source technology
The Wrap Up
I hope the above-written points of differences would help you to choose a language that suits best to your requirements. Both PHP and ASP.NET have a fair share of advantages, and thus it is wise to select one as per the specific requirement of the project. This in-depth analysis of the differences will help you to get a better understanding of both the languages and then choose the one that suits your project’s requirements the best.