PHP or ASP Web Development

Almost all our day-to-day activities depend on web technologies, and some of these technologies are crucial, like server-side scripting technologies. For example, PHP and ASP stack virtually as the leaders. When looking at PHP versus ASP, we are really comparing two of the most popular programming languages for Dynamic Websites. Both can interact with the databases and help with the exchange of information. The platform dependency, compatibility, database access, easily understandable programming language for the users, cost, speed, and efficiency when runs on the server-side make them choose which programming language is better for their project.

What is PHP?

PHP is a programming language that stands for Hypertext Processor. It started as just a parsing language created by Lerdorf but later was modified by a few different people. This programming language works on Linux and UNIX servers. A scripting language is a set of instructions either to the web browser or to the server. Server-side scripting will generally use server resources as opposed to a user's computer.

It completes all processes on a server and sends the plain page to the client, reducing the client-side computation overhead. In other words, before the data passed to the users’ browser, the PHP code is executed on the webserver. It supports many databases like MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL, and Generic ODBC.

PHP is one of the most known general-purpose programming languages. This programming language was designed for web development but has morphed into writing software for various applications. The PHP script is embedded within a web page along with its HTML. The source code of PHP is open and free. Open source code means the program's source code is available for anyone to use (users or developers). It allows modification, improvement, and redistribution by using the open-source trademark if the distribution meets OSI’s condition.

What PHP Files do?

PHP files can contain text, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. PHP code is executed on the server, and the result is returned to the browser as plain HTML and PHP files have the extension “. PHP”.

Function of PHP

Knowing two or more programming languages helps the users see how powerful PHP is as a programming language. Such as being able to generate dynamic web page content; create, open, read, write, delete, and close files on the server; collect form data; send and receive cookies; add, delete, and modify data in a database; restrict users to access some pages on the users’ website, and encrypt data. PHP adds additional functionality for the website that HTML cannot achieve by itself.

Performs Calculations

All kinds of mathematical calculations can be performed using PHP, from basic math such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division up to complex algorithms.

PHP Collects Users Information

It allows users to input required information directly for the web page, which means end-users directly interact with the script, resulting in dynamic websites and web pages. For instance, collecting the weight of something from the users that they want to convert from pound to kilograms, or it can be more extensive information, like adding their information to an address book, posting on a forum, or participating in a survey.

PHP Interacts with MySQL Databases

The Hypertext Processor mainly collaborates with MySQL databases. Their compatibility opens endless possibilities for the users. For example, users can write and submit information to a database and retrieve information from the database. This allows the user to create pages on the fly using the contents of the database. It also lets the users perform complex tasks like setting up a login system, creating a website search feature, keeping users' store’s product catalog and inventory online, or setting up an automated picture gallery to highlight products.

PHP and GD Library Create Graphics

In joint with GD Library (graphical software for dynamically manipulating images), PHP helps create simple graphics on the fly or edit existing graphics like resizing or rotating images, changing their grayscale, or making thumbnails for them. Additionally, it allows users to edit their icons of figures representing a particular person in a computer game and create dynamic graphics that are always changing, such as dynamic Twitter signatures.

PHP Works with Cookies

The cookie is a small file embedded in the user’s computer. Cookies are used to identify a user and store the user’s preferences as given on the site, so the information doesn’t have to be re-entered each time they visit the site. Using PHP, you can create, modify, and delete cookies and retrieve cookie values.

Why PHP?

• It runs on various platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS X).
• Compatible with almost all servers used today (Apache, IIS).
• Supports a wide range of databases.
• Is free. Download it from the official PHP resource: www.php.net.
• PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server-side.

What is ASP?

ASP stands for Active Server Pages. It is a server-side scripting language that allows the users to create dynamic websites with server-side scripts, such as VBScript and Jscript. It is an open, compile-free application environment where you can combine HTML, scripts, and reusable ActiveX server components to create dynamic and powerful Web-based solutions. Active Server pages permit server-side scripting for Internet Information Services (IIS) with native support for both VBScript and Jscript.

What is an ASP file?

An ASP file is quite like an HTML file. It contains text, HTML tags, and scripts that are executed on the server. Jscript and VBscript are the two widely used scripting languages for an ASP. VBScript is pretty much like Visual Basic, whereas Jscript is Microsoft’s version of JavaScript. However, VBScript is the default scripting language for ASP.

ASP script can be written with any HTML editor, such as Notepad. However, other professional editing software like Microsoft Visual, InterDev can make life easy for any website developer.

What are ASP advantages?

Dynamic web page

ASP supports scripting languages, which run on the webserver. A user's web page can be dynamically created. For example, users can create their web page to greet each user when they log into their page and change the language based on preferences and country.

Database Access

ASP enables users to easily build a rich database functionality into their website, such as form processing.

Free availability

It is free so that the users can download the webserver from Microsoft’s website. In addition to that, it does not require to have any special tool to write an ASP code. A user can use any text editor like Notepad.

So which one should you opt for and why? Learn more at https://visualwebz.com/php-vs-asp/