If you are a business owner in the era of digital operations, then it is crucial for you to have a good web development strategy. Not only is it vital to have a well-structured website, but it is also imperative on the part of business owners to understand some of the trade-offs associated with choosing alternative strategies to further their digital footprint. In the field of website development PHP and ASP.Net variants reign supreme and there is a lot of debate regarding which one is better and why.
In this article, we will try and explain the major difference between .net and php and which one you should go for to make your website more impressive and successful. Before venturing into a discussion related to this in detail, it's important to mention that both these technologies have been useful for website development purposes but both have certain pros and cons which people should be mindful of. The purpose of this article is to explain some of these pros and cons that .net and PHP have so that people from non-technical backgrounds can gain a satisfactory understanding of it.
First, let us understand what .net and PHP are in their own individual capacities and how they help in the building and development of websites for eCommerce-oriented businesses. The first thing to note is that PHP is a free and open-source platform. Open source means that you can go into its internal code structure and make changes according to your own needs and convenience. It offers a mix between programming languages and a web framework .Net on the other hand is a paid software owned by Microsoft and operates as a straight application framework.
In the following section, we will try and analyze both of these platforms through different aspects such as speed, performance, support, etc.
Performance and Speed
First, let's clear up a common misconception. The language you choose is not the only determinant for analyzing your website’s speed and performance. The reality is that there is actually very little difference in speed and performance between PHP and .Net frameworks.
Based on long-term research and analysis of many different websites, it has been proved time and again that both these frameworks are equally well equipped to undertake tasks such as accusing file systems, find images and displaying pages on a web server. Ultimately when we talk about the speed and performance of a website, it is more dependent on things such as the end user’s network strength and device, database server and bandwidth limits etc.
Despite this, a myth still persists that ASP.NET is a more desirable language to use for website development purposes. This comes from the fact that technically speaking, .NET frameworks generally have lesser irregularities in their code as compared to php. On the other hand it can also be said that php is better suited for beginners to pick up. In reality, the idea of ASP.NET being a more elegant language to use is more in theory then in terms of practical applications of writing more ornamental codes.
To dispel the idea that php sites run poorly as compared to their .net counterparts, we only need to look at a massive website like Facebook which is built on a php framework.
Support
Support is a key factor when it comes to choosing which framework to go for your website development needs. In general terms, we can say that both platforms enjoy widespread support and have large vibrant communities that offer a lot of scope for interaction and constructive discussions.
If we are to distinguish them, however, we would say that PHP has a larger pool of independent developers as compared to ASP.NET. Here the ASP.NET framework suffers a bit as it is only limited to dedicated developers as it is owned exclusively by Microsoft. As an overview, we can say that both communities will give you constructive solutions and answer your queries. However, php will be better in this regard because it's the more popular framework.
Scalability
Both php and .net frameworks are extremely scalable languages. If you are a DIY entrepreneur, it's better to go with php as it has a less steep learning curve compared to .net. However, if you are looking to hire a team of developers for your website then it is better to give them the leeway to do as they see fit if your company culture is not biased towards one or the other.
Suitability
When we talk about suitability, php is ideal for small business websites, start-ups, and CRMs. This is because of its ease of usage and popularity across different forums. ASP.NET on the other hand is really good for enterprise business that experiences heavier loads in terms of traffic on their website. It's also a good option for internet services.
Conclusion
It's safe to say that the debate of php vs .net is not going to stop anytime soon. Both platforms have emerged as really popular tools for website development and have their fair share of pros and some cons too. After discussing a few points of difference between php vs .net, we laid out the pros and cons of each. We have also tried to outline some important aspects of the php vs .net debate in this article and we hope that it helps you to pick the right one that fits in with your business's specific requirements.
It's safe to say that for some of you, it's better to seek the services of a professional firm that has experience in web development. Hopefully, we could cover some important points in this article that helps you in your business development solutions. Till then we wish you good luck and may the force be with you!
