| PHP or ASP.net |
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Whether to use PHP or ASP is an age old question that has sparked debates in the programming community for quite some time, and really comes down to the older platform war between Linux and Windows. Then comes ASP.net, complicating matters further. This week, we will try to shed some light and hopefully give you a better idea of what works best for you. Hypertext Pre-Processor, or PHP, was originally designed to run under Linux. It is an open source server scripting language that works with all operating systems and any Web server software. This means that PHP applications are extremely portable, which is a huge advantage. PHP also uses a language that is very similar to C programming languages, making it relatively easy for developers to pick up. Because it is widely used, it is constantly upgraded, enhanced and fixed, making it reliable and familiar. There really isn’t much more to be said about PHP – most people have yet to find its downfalls. ASP stands for Active Server Pages and was introduced by Microsoft as the language to use for dynamic Web applications running under their Web server. Because Microsoft was busy developing ASP.net, not much was done to develop ASP and it's no surprise that it really doesn’t compare to any of the other languages available today. ASP.net is just now gaining momentum and popularity. As it evolves, it becomes evident that ASP.net will soon leave other languages behind and grow into something much bigger and better. ASP.net can recognize about 20 different scripting languages. It runs on a completely different structure than other applications. This means that web pages run faster, and that source code is much safer. The downfall of ASP.net is that it's still in its early stages, and quite costly compared to PHP and ASP. Because it operates on a whole different structure, it's also less user-friendly and much more confusing to developers used to C programming languages, or even PHP or ASP scripting. ASP.net may be a good candidate if you have a lot of money to waste on both the software and the developers who understand it, because it will definitely make your site that much better, that much more superior to most sites around. If, however, you are on a budget, outsource this work to experts, like those at Creative Works. We can save you as much as 50% over having ASP.net work done in house. But if you are looking for a simple and easy to use scripting platform, then my recommendation would be to go with PHP. With all the add-ons, patches and tips you can get from Creative Works, PHP should do the trick. Until next time, This is the Outsourcing Guru signing off. |