PHP vs. ASP - Which Is Best For Your Application?

PHP (Pre Hypertext Processor) and ASP (Active Server Pages) are the two most popular means for building web applications. Many people believe that these two programming languages could be used interchangeably. And while they are each capable of building applications with the same functionality, there are some noteworthy differences between the two.

The most noteworthy differences include:

• price
• platform compatibility
• developer community
• speed

Price

There is a very large difference between PHP and ASP in terms of price. PHP is free. On the other hand, ASP requires both initial and ongoing costs for maintenance and debugging. Furthermore, any additional ASP libraries will also come with a price tag.

Platform Compatibility

PHP runs on multiple platforms, both Linux Apache and Windows IIS. Only recently have some versions of ASP been able to run on other platforms. So if you are looking for maximum platform compatibility, it is best to opt for PHP.

Developer Community

Unlike ASP, PHP has a fairly large developer community that is active in reporting bugs and creating additional PHP libraries. (See PEAR.)

Additionally, PHP developers have contributed to a variety of open source projects. In our article What Is Open Source?, we talk about some open source projects that have been built using PHP.

Speed

PHP is also faster than ASP. So if you have an application that performs multiple queries or is frequently accessed, it would be best to use a language that was more efficient.

In addition to the four bullets mentioned above, there are some other points for comparison. The table below summarizes the differences. (This table was taken from PHP and ASP.NET Go Head-to-Head.)

So… Which Should You Choose?

When it comes down to it, PHP is the overall winner in terms of price, speed, platform compatibility, and the size and responsiveness of its developer community. However, before you make your decision, you should also consider the relative benefits of using other popular languages such as JSP (Java Server Pages) and ROR (Ruby On Rails).