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Kapitel 55. PHP and other languages
PHP is the best language for web programing,
but what about other languages?
- 1. PHP vs. ASP?
- 2. Is there an ASP to PHP converter?
- 3. PHP vs. Cold Fusion?
- 4. PHP vs. Perl?
ASP is not really a language in itself, it's an acronym for Active
Server Pages, the actual language used to program ASP with is Visual
Basic Script or JScript. The biggest drawback of ASP is that
it's a proprietary system that is natively used only on Microsoft
Internet Information Server (IIS). This limits it's availability to
Win32 based servers. There are a couple of projects in the works
that allows ASP to run in other environments and webservers:
from (commercial),
Chili!Soft ASP from
(commercial).
ASP is said to be a slower and more cumbersome language than PHP, less
stable as well. Some of the pros of ASP is that since it primarily
uses VBScript it's relatively easy to pick up the language if you're
already know how to program in Visual Basic. ASP support is also
enabled by default in the IIS server making it easy to get up and
running. The components built in ASP are really limited, so if you
need to use "advanced" features like interacting with FTP servers,
you need to buy additional components.
2. Is there an ASP to PHP converter?
Yes, the server-side
is the one most often referred to as well as option.
PHP is commonly said to be faster and more efficient for complex
programming tasks and trying out new ideas. PHP is generally referred
to as more stable and less resource intensive as well. Cold Fusion
has better error handling, database abstraction and date parsing
although database abstraction is addressed in PHP 4. Another
thing that is listed as one of Cold Fusion's strengths is its excellent
search engine, but it has been mentioned that a search engine is not
something that should be included in a web scripting language. PHP
runs on almost every platform there is; Cold Fusion is only available
on Win32, Solaris, Linux and HP/UX. Cold Fusion has a good IDE
and is generally easier to get started with, whereas PHP initially
requires more programming knowledge. Cold Fusion is designed with
non-programmers in mind, while PHP is focused on programmers.
A great summary by Michael J Sheldon on this topic has
been posted to the PHP mailing list. A copy can be found
at .
The biggest advantage of PHP over Perl is that PHP was designed for
scripting for the web where Perl was designed to do a lot more and can
because of this get very complicated. The flexibility / complexity
of Perl makes it easier to write code that another author / coder
has a hard time reading. PHP has a less confusing and stricter format
without losing flexibility. PHP is easier to integrate into existing
HTML than Perl. PHP has pretty much all the 'good' functionality of
Perl: constructs, syntax and so on, without making it as complicated
as Perl can be. Perl is a very tried and true language, it's been
around since the late eighties, but PHP is maturing very quickly.
 add a note
User Contributed Notes
PHP and other languages
berjoza at bigmir dot net
26-Mar-2004 04:25
How about PHP and JAVA?
You can use PHP vs JAVA in following order
1. In php.ini file add
- extension=php_java.dll
-
[Java]
java.class.path = "c:\usr\local\php\extensions\php_java.jar"
java.home = "c:\usr\local\j2sdk1.4.2_03"
java.library = "c:\usr\local\j2sdk1.4.2_03\jre\bin\server\jvm.dll"
java.library.path = "c:\usr\local\php\extensions"
Cash at nospam dot thesilverside dot com
12-Jan-2004 07:12
To correctly utilize PHP in enterprise applications, one may want to bear in mind that if PHP is being used synchronously, it should be kept to the presentation layer only. Other languages that were previously mentioned througout the notes above (such as Perl, Java, and the .NET CLR... if you're on Windows) would be more appropriately used within the business process and data access layers. If you really want to maintain higher speed on presentation, then perhaps one would want to incorporate asynchronous instead of synchronous processing into the presentation layer of your application.
In other words, if you are using a connected data source, such as a SQL database, try shifting the processing time back a layer by providing a medium interval return from the data source to an XML file that the web service can access. This will allow your web presentation layer to load the data significantly faster than it is now. It will also give more resources back to PHP and your web service processes.
If you still cannot get the PHP processes back up to par, then you should consider using PHP as an asynchronous page constructor, thus shifting PHP itself back to the business process layer and allowing the web service (Apache, IIS, Netscape, etc.) to return HTML files instead.
Aside from page caching, (to my knowledge) you simply cannot get any faster than that.
Tricrokra
26-Oct-2003 01:28
I have to note that a very big advantage of PHP over ASP is that PHP has much easier commands...
Take openening of a file in ASP...
First create a file object... I put this into a function because the line is simpy to long and I called it "Init fileobject"
<%
Initfileobject 'The Sub I created in order not to type that idot line all the time
Set Fil = FileObject.OpenTextFile(Server.MapPath("data")&"\datafile")
datavar = Fil.ReadLine
CloseFile Fil
Set Fil = Nothing
Set FileObject = Nothing
%>
Why always those objects...
The same thing in PHP
<?php
$fil = fopen("data/datafile","r");
$datavar = fgets($fil);
fclose($fil);
?>
That's all...
And that while VBScript is based on BASIC (BEGINNERS Allpurpose Symbolic Instruction Code)...
I code too shortly in PHP to make a full analysis yet, but the complex object structues of VBScript is something I really put in question, PHP has a much easier syntax when it comes to that...
One of the first things I saw was that PHP is based on C, which is one of the hardest programming languages in the world. That makes the syntax of for example the "for" statement less to my desire, which I like better in VBScript (ASP)... If you are an experienced C or C++ programmer, I think PHP makes automaticly the best choice out of PHP vs ASP.
But I did find out in only 1 hour that the syntax of PHP gives you much less typing than ASP, that is a fact. I think that for the rest the pick of language is pretty personal.
When it comes to stability. ASP servers crash very much. I don't think ASP itself is the evil one in this. ASP only runs on Windows servers, and we all know how much Windows crashes. I truely believe that also picks a part of the puzzle...
atoi_monte at hotmail dot com
24-Jul-2003 06:34
---------------------------------
QUOTE:
This is a comparison between PHP and Java/JSP:
Any comments?
---------------------------------
Probably the worst comparison I have seen in a long while. They penalize PHP for class scope and global variables and such.
1) While that may be relevant for APPLICATION programming, it's totally irrelevant for web programming. Web programming, imho, is about being able to get a quick, organized solution out QUICKLY so that it can be maintained and dynamic. The global variables, lack of package system, and loosely typed nature of PHP makes it easier to use and get stuff done in, while the syntax is still clean and easy to maintain. On applications programming.. yes.. Java is a better solution. But for web programming, JSP doesn't hold a candle to PHP, imo.
2) With PHP 5, I would just like to remind everyone, there will be a lot of concessions to Java programmers (mostly to lure C++ hackers to PHP over C# or Java) like constants, abstract stuff, and access control. While it won't impact the programming that much ( you can still code just like you always have) you can at least feel more like C++ when we finally get to use PHP5.
dan
anonymous at coward dot com
09-Apr-2003 07:23
As far as I can see, Web Consultant apparently missed the topic, which was "3. PHP vs. Cold Fusion", not "PHP vs. compiled languages (JSP,ASP.NET, and ColdFusion MX)".
We probably all agree that PHP, compared to what ColdFusion was at the time of the writing of that part of this FAQ, is far more capable of complex scripts, and also generally outperforms ColdFusion in similar tasks, too.
I'm not familiar with ColdFusion MX, but as it sounds like it's a rather new product, I would draw the conclusion that it isn't what the writer of this FAQ had in mind when addressing PHP vs. ColdFusion comparisons.
Surely, Web Consultant must have made the same conclusion based on his discovery that the FAQ is outdated and thus should be updated.
cheers.
Web Consultant
04-Apr-2003 09:39
Sounds like this FAQ needs to be updated.
How about ASP.NET and .NET Framework?
How about ColdFusion MX?
PHP has limited/None out-of-the-box database integration with popular RDBMS(Oracle,SQL Server), integration with COM and to Java Servlet and Enterprise Javabeans, that alone make ColdFusion MX and ASP.NET an attractive development platform.
PHP might be good for developing non complex websites for no cost; however when you are developing enterprise web systems that have to integrate with many different flavor of sources .. php does not have the out-of-the-box functionality for the above needs.
"PHP is commonly said to be faster and more efficient for complex programming tasks and trying out new ideas. PHP is generally referred to as more stable and less resource intensive as well. "
I like to see proof of this statement. How is a interpreted languge faster and less resource intensive than a compiled languge(JSP,ASP.NET, and ColdFusion MX)?
ColdFusion MX Server cost about $1300, but the total built in functionality and versatility makes it a worthwhile. If you start out with PHP, ask yourself how much time and money you have in developing the source to provide the functionality you are looking for.
PHP vs ColdFusion MX
phalcomb at arbolnet dot com
06-Feb-2003 02:29
My experience with ASP and PHP is about equal, I think they both serve equally as good of a purpose depending on what the programmer is trying to do. I do like the syntax of PHP a lot and the speed of it is great, although the client/server interactivity of ASP with Windows and MAC clients is what I'm excited to see grow with future versions of PHP.
mavi_br at someplace dot com
14-Dec-2002 01:02
I've been working with PHP, JSP, Java and CFM for 2 years now.
I can tell that for web development only, php is not nearly as good as cfm on speed, on ease to use and on interaction.
On the other hand you just can't do anything very special with CF like opening a socket with the ease of php.
I would say : use what you need for your application, cfm is truly the fastest, as it has a daemon running instead of a per request, plus the ability to cache queries that is awesome.
php is fast but is a pain on some aspects and has loads of bugs.
JSP have almost no bug at all, or at least i did not find any, but it is hard to debug.
Good thing on JSP is that you can write real applications and have perfect interaction by using classes, plus it is much more of a serious language.The only problem is that you take at least twice times to make same program on JSP and it is not even close as well documented and easy to use as php.
nospam at phppatterns dot com
23-Nov-2002 12:54
Here's a PHP coders response to Abduls "Java or PHP" article?
"PHP or Java?":
dir at badblue dot com
26-Sep-2002 04:51
To ahabra,
Very interesting page. I would ask the following, however as you investigate this topic further... you'll soon become the PHP vs. Java guru.
Your comparisons are interesting and well thought out. I would also add some higher-level (less computer-science oriented, simply because the task at hand is generating web pages 'on the fly'). As a pure CS language, there is no doubt that Java is superior. But as a web page generator, I have moved from a Java-centric approach to a PHP approach, leveraging servlets or beans as needed "under the covers".
Therefore, some higher-level things to consider:
1) Compare the complexity of real-world production applications (postnuke.com vs ? in content management, phpbb.com vs. ? in discussion boards, jpgraph vs. ? in graphing). In my mind, the proof is in the pudding - which technology results in the better, more production-ready applications? They may be out there for Java - I would just like to know where they are and who is using them.
2) Compare slinging (generation) of markup which is where PHP excels (as it was designed to sling markup - this includes features such as character transformations, variable accessibility, web page captures (see the fopen call which captures a web page in a single function call). Your point about a string being encapsulated in a string class is somewhat irrelevant if you are a programmer cranking markup. Embedding object-oriented code into a page can be much more painful (and slower to execute) than leveraging traditional coding techniques.
3) Compare native database and directory support. Java would have the advantage in generic database access (JDBC) but PHP has the advantage in LDAP support (JNDI has several bugs which we have run into - quite painful) and native database access (e.g., Oracle or MySQL integration).
Overall, well done - and a very popular topic! It's worth building it out further.
developer at i-space dot org
04-Mar-2002 04:34
If you ever tried to configure a web server for WAP, serving WML content you know it's not an easy job. You can easily make dynamic WML pages for mobile phone users with PHP. All the options and extras from DB+PHP oriented web-site can easily be transfomed into a WAP version of your site. With a single line - Header("Content-type: text/vnd.wap.wml"); you can be in another "mobile" dimension :). Take all you need ... and even more.
nick at divbyzero dot com
29-Aug-2001 10:45
Actually, ASP isn't as terrible as one might think, if you have a background in Javascript (or other object-based languages with dot-notation (object.object.function()). VBScript is a pain, true (cuz it looks, feels, and smells of VB), but JScript is a lot nicer and syntactically looks like Javascript with extra functions added for server-side stuff (ie., file i/o) that Javascript can't do client-side.
And while most of the code samples on the net and documentation talks about VBScript, JScript docs and manuals can be found on M$'s sites in a few places.
Where VBScript has that painful
IF ...
ENDIF
crap, JScript has the friendly
if () {
// ...
}
and even
for (indexVar in ArrayName) {
// ...
}
stuff, very much like PHP's foreach() looping.
Once you get around the bulky object syntax for opening, closing, writing, appending files/folders, it's not too bad. Good regExp handling, too. And translating from PHP to ASP and back again is a good programmatic exercise for those trying to stay grounded in object (Javascript/Jscript) and function (PHP) notation differences.
eg., preg_replace("/pattern/","replacement",$source);
becomes source.replace(/pattern,"replacement");
etc.
For examples of code workarounds I've built to translate PHP functionality to ASP and vice versa (like translating PHP's file() into ASP), check out: and
- [email protected]
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PHP and COM
