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Python or PHP, Which Performs Better in 2018?

Posted on 16 December, 2018

Backend development is one of the most sought-after skills in this day and age. Almost any new business/startup needs a website and a mobile app, both of which connect to a server in the backend. Therefore, backend developers are high in demand in the market and companies are willing to throw large sums of money to developers who can manage the backend tasks well.

Python or PHP, Which Performs Better in 2018?

Many programming languages that are being used for backend development are emerging in the market, the list of which is elaborated upon below:

Python

Python is one of the most popular choices of backend programming. It is relatively new and has enormous library support.

PHP

PHP has been in the market for a long time and it is widely used to this day. Facebook, for instance, had its substantial backend developed in PHP in the initial days.

JavaScript

With powerful web frameworks like NodeJS, JavaScript has captured a huge chunk of the market and emerged as one of the most popular backend programming languages.

Ruby

Ruby on Rails is one of the most popular web development frameworks, and currently, tons of startups use it.

Dot NET

Though it is quite old, many legacy applications still use it as their backend application. For new developers, it is always a matter of confusion; which backend framework to learn? With so many new programming languages, which ones offer so many features, libraries, and frameworks? How does one actually decide on which web framework to learn? In this blog post, we compare 2 of the most popular backend programming languages, i.e. Python and PHP. We will try to cover various aspects and see which one of them wins.

Before we begin the comparison, let us first list the points of comparison which would significantly affect our choice of web framework:

Ease of learning

This is arguably one of the most important parameters to consider in order to decide which web framework should be used. If the programming language is difficult to learn, there is no point spending time on it. Today, developer time is more important than execution time for all practical purposes.

Community support

Let’s face it; we all struggle with bugs, we all face issues while writing programs and we all look for support online at StackOverflow and other forums. If a particular programming language isn’t well known and there is little community support available, it is better to stay away from it.

Documentation

Just like community support, it is essential that the programming language/framework has sufficient documentation available for the developers to learn from in order to understand the nuances.

Pricing

Some tools/frameworks aren’t free. It might significantly affect the choice of an organization that is low on budget. Generally speaking, a large number of tech companies prefer to use open-source tools and frameworks rather than using paid systems. However, enterprises like banks, insurance companies, etc. prefer using paid systems.

Library support

If the programming language is widely used, there will be more developers who will be developing libraries for that particular language. As a result, development becomes even easier.

Speed

Server-side applications may require a high tolerance capacity as well as low latency. Therefore, it is important to see which language is faster in terms of execution time.

Choice of web frameworks

It is important that the programming language provides well-designed web development frameworks that are easy-to-use and develop powerful applications.

Debugging

The choice of programming language should also depend on the debugging tools available for the language. Lack of good debugging tools means that the developers are going to spend more time in debugging which essentially isn’t the most productive use of their time.

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