Compiled by Nauman Malik, Suave Solutions,
Release Date
Part-1
In this comparison we will consider PHP and ASP.net strengths and weaknesses to build scaleable, maintainable, efficient, secure and easily portable web applications. This is an independent view based on personal research and facts gathered from different sources. This comparison has no concern with any software vendor or company.
| Features | ASP.net | PHP |
| Backward-compatible with previous versions | No backward compatibility with ASP, completely based on new architecture | Compatible with older versions but not fully due to inclusion of new features with respect to OOP in PHP 5 |
| Flexibility to choose programming language | .Net provides application framework compatible with scripting languages like VBScript, JScript, Perlscript, and Python, as well as compiled languages such as VB.net, C#, C, Cobol, Smalltalk, and Lisp | PHP itself is a scripting language with strong string manipulation libraries and other technologies. |
| Object-oriented programming | Yes (true inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation are supported along with .Net class libraries ) | Not a pure OOP language PHP 5 is still with few shortcomings |
| Database connectivity | Yes (ODBC with database abstraction and other proprietary drivers can be used as well) | Yes (ODBC, Perl’s DBI library and other proprietary drivers available) |
| Layered Architecture | Yes Clear separation between presentation and logic, which can be extended to business objects (middle/business layer) to database connectivity frameworks. | Moderate to Weak Application can be divided into layers but it all depends on coding style and it is flexible for developers to write code as they want even without using the OOP techniques. |
| Development Environment | Highly Integrated Integrated development environment with sophisticated debugging. Good controls available for Rapid Application development. | Moderately Integrated Zend Studio by Zend Technologies and other environments. Number of free code libraries available and produced by individual developers and commercial software vendors. |
| Efficiency and Speed | Strong to Moderate ASP.net is expensive with respect to memory usage due to long code paths. Good memory servers can provide efficient access based on the concurrent number of users | Strong More efficient memory usage and faster execution due to smaller code path. Libraries are available to provide pre compiled versions of PHP pages. |
| Licensing Price (Platform) | Not Free Licensing price for production environments. Can be solved using host applications on shared or dedicated servers. | Free No licensing for production environment |
| Application & Web Servers | IIS 5, IIS 6 and IIS 7 | Apache and other commercially available servers |
| Server Security Concerns | Moderate IIS with bad record of vulnerability. Hybrid server approaches available but examples not available on commercial basis | Strong Apache Server with good track record of security features |
| Licensing Price (Development) | Free No licensing required for development | Free No licensing for development |
| Cross-platform applicability (Server) | Moderate to Weak Windows Servers, IIS only, Easy to configure and manage | Strong On all major platforms |
| Open Source | No | Yes |
| Reporting Engines | Strong Compatibility with | Freeware and paid libraries available with limited features and support. |
Reference
http://www.oracle.com/technology/pub/articles/hull_asp.html
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/php-top-10-net-myths-exposed
http://weblogs.asp.net/bleroy/pages/193608.aspx
http://www.promoteware.com/Module/Article/ArticleView.aspx?id=10 (Good to read)
