In the world of web development, the choice of which development
language to use commonly comes down to two popular choices.
Web applications, specifically those relying on back end
databases, are typically being created using either Microsoft's
ASP.Net language, or the Open Source alternative language
of PHP. Reasons why one might choose one over the other can
include: The cost of development tools, or availability of
such tools, or even ones comfort level with the Open Source
initiative. The goal of this article is to provide some perspective
on reasons why one might choose one over the other.
Active Server Pages or ASP has long been an option for creating
dynamic web content. Active Server Pages facilitates the
ability to use databases such as Access or SQL just to name
a few, to create dynamic, feature rich websites. The work
going on behind the scenes in serving up the dynamic content
is being done at the server level by the Active Server Pages
source code. Microsoft has spent a great deal of time and
resources promoting their .Net family of programming languages
of which ASP.Net is a member. In order to develop with ASP.Net
one must obtain the extremely expensive Microsoft Visual
Studio Programming Suite. While expensive, Visual Studio
is an asset to any programmer due to its vast amount of features.
As with all of Microsoft's products, support and updates
are constantly made available for ASP.Net. The shear amount
of features that Microsoft packs into Visual Studio, coupled
with Microsoft's extensive support make certainly make ASP.Net
an attractive solution for any corporation's web development
needs, but the cost can be prohibitive, if not impossible
to afford for the individual web developer.
PHP which is in its 5th revision now, is an Open Source
web development language that also facilitates the creation
of feature rich, dynamic websites that can use databases.
Being Open Source means simply that PHP isn't owned by anyone.
Just as with Active Server Pages, the work going on behind
the scenes of serving up the dynamic web content is being
done by PHP at the server level. As with most Open Source
products, the resources available to a PHP developer are
free of charge. This makes PHP extremely attractive to the
independent web developer. There are some commercial quality
development suites available from companies like Zend, but
there is also wealth of free resources just a Google Search
away. Because there is really no corporate entity behind
PHP, support and development on PHP is done by the community
of its users and developers themselves. Surprisingly this
does not seem to adversely affect the ability to find support
for PHP.
All in all, ASP.Net and PHP are both excellent options,
offering basically the same functionality. Whether the decision
comes down to the cost of initial investment, or the comfort
level one has regarding Open Source, or something else entirely,
the end result depends upon the mastery of whichever language
is chosen.
Ian Wilson is a support analyst for Apollo Hosting. Mr. Wilson
brings years of experience in coding and system administration
to the Apollo Hosting support team. Apollo Hosting provides
website
hosting,
ecommerce
hosting,
vps
hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers.
