PHP vs. ASP.NET
PHP and ASP.NET are the two main scripting languages used by web developers. PHP is a multi-platform open-source language whilst ASP.NET is a single platform language built and owned by Microsoft. Both of these languages are packed full of features and add-ons for both are available so that you are able to extend their framework to build feature rich applications. Although PHP is open source, it has a large active community which is there to support users of the language; ASP.NET is a product of Microsoft meaning that there is a large amount of online documentation and other community forums where you can get support.
PHP
PHP is a language which has been around since 1984 and powers many of the world’s websites. It is free and is known as ‘open source’ software meaning that its source code is available for download, at no cost. It widely used in conjunction with the MySQL database engine, but can be used with others such as Oracle and SQLite. PHP is generally easier to code in than ASP.NET, since it has more functions built in than its rival; however, ASP.NET has built-in AJAX functions which is something that PHP lacks. Since PHP is open source, there is a number of applications that are available for free based on it, most of these applications are commonly used and are very powerful; also, there is a greater number of community forums and blogs where you are able to find information regarding PHP since it is open source.
PHP is a dynamic language since there are several different types of database that you are able to connect to, including: MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL and in some cases, Microsoft SQL Server. You are also able to edit the source of the language if you wish to speed it up or install custom modifications so that it is able to run as per your requirements; again, this is because it is open source - although ASP.NET is a free language, it isn’t open source meaning that you are unable to edit its source.
ASP.NETÂ
ASP.NET is a language based on classic ASP - both languages are owned and were created by Microsoft. Although it is a free language, it isn’t open source meaning that you are unable to view or edit the source code of it. Also, it is very limited in what database types you can use with it - Microsoft only invented it to work with Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server databases, although developers can use it with MySQL databases with the help of third party components. Classic ASP, ASP.NET’s forefather, was created back in the mid-1990s and is the base which ASP.NET has been built on. One thing which annoys many ASP.NET developers is the fact that Microsoft is forever releasing updates to the system, and in its course, changing things along the way meaning that in some cases, developers have to keep on learning the changes as well as the new components and functions which are being added.
desirea said,
January 27, 2008 @ 9:38 pm
classic ASP is not the “forefather” of ASP.NET. ASP.NET is not a language and neither is ASP. Each are capable of using a number of different scripting or programming langauges.
ASP.NET represents a framework underwich “class objects” become available to the programmer to use.
It is not limited to the databases you can use with it. I have used MySQL, MS SQL Server as well as Postgres with it in the past. Oracle also has a .NET Data Provider out for it.
It was not created to work with MS Databases although the SqlDataProvider does have native support for the SQL Internal data stream called Tabular Data Stream. Any other company like MySQL, Oracle can implement their on data provider to do the say for their particular software.
ASP.NET was a from the ground up build on top of the .NET Framework. The Common Language Runtime handles the managed code environment which all code is run under.
Ben said,
February 23, 2008 @ 5:58 am
PHP is definitely the solution of the scripting language genre, it is easy to learn and one of the good things about it is that there are fuinctions for almost anything, and obviously the vast majority of support for PHP around the Web, especially in PHP related IRC rooms. As usual, big giant ASP.NET comes in and tries to take a bite of the sandwich, and has done pretty well at it. ASP classic and ASP.NET are vastly used throughout the Web, but I would define ASP.NET as being used mostly in corporations and company entities, as if all companies use ASP.NET when you buy and sell companies, you’ll be using the same scripting language, therefore able to edit the company products (that maybe coded in ASP.NET), unlike having to code from PHP to ASP.NET. I would consider PHP used in the freelancing industry, and although that seems the likliest thing freelancers would use for scripting Web pages, PHP is also used with company entities, as it is open source.
At the end of the day, PHP is right for me, but some people prefer ASP.NET because it uses VBScript which is the scripting language they understand. I guess its to do with personal preference in most cases.
UK Hosting said,
April 16, 2008 @ 9:48 am
For serious projects ASP.NET is more comfortable, stable and good platform, I suppose!
asp developer said,
May 11, 2008 @ 7:10 am
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