php vs asp.net

lackluster · 07-10-2003, 12:16 PM

Sorry to post here, but I have no other forum to ask this of. Though this is linuxquestions.org, I have seen quite a few people here with experiance in both PHP & .NET, so I'll proceed to ask.

I'm trying to turn our company around to use PHP instead of .NET and I put together a little text doc about it. I'm going to post it below and hopefully some of you will be able to help me add or subtract things as nesscary. I tried to be objective and un-biased. Even if you have nothing to add, I think it's a pretty good comparison.

Code:

----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
		|	.NET	|	PHP	|	WINNER
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
Avg. Salary 	|    $62,000  	|     $52,000   |	PHP
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
Cost        	| $0 Framework	|       $0      |    BOTH OR PHP
            	|   $2,499 VS 	|               |
            	|   $1,799 VS 	|               |
            	|   (upgrade) 	|               |
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
Performance    	|     ?     	|         ?     |	?
(benchmarks)	|           	|		|
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
Can modify      | not a chance  |      YES      |       PHP
and/or fix bugs |               |               |
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
Native DB       |      YES      |       NO      |       .NET
Drivers         |               |               |
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
Can be compiled |      YES      |      YES      |       BOTH
                |   natively    | (additionally |
                |		|  an optimizer |
                |		|  can be used) |
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
Requires users  |     YES,      |     NEVER     |    BOTH OR PHP
to install libs | for additional|               |
                | functionality |               |
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
Choose language |     YES       |     YES,      |    BOTH OR .NET
(see discussion)|               |  with work    |
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
Debugging       |  Just plain   |   Good, can   |      .NET
                |    better     | find/build/buy|
                |               |      one      |
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
TOTAL		|	3.5	|	4.0	|	PHP
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
(BOTH is counted as one)
(BOTH OR x IS COUNTED AS .5 for x)

Choice of Language a good thing?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Are the uses of different languages such a good thing? I would
prefer to write my pages in C# (at least under .NET), while
most .NET developers would prefer VB.NET. What if I leave?
Are they going to have to learn C# now? Or will we hire someone
else to do it?
What then, if we standardize the language? Then what's the point
of having a framework to choose a language? Good theory, but
in the real world does this really work?
The languages can be used together only once they are compiled.


Some references:
------------------------------------
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...hpvsaspnet.asp
http://forums.devshed.com/t61568/se3...cd0e7eea3.html
http://www.php.net/usage.php
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,476673,00.asp
http://www.php.net/
http://www.zend.com/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/
http://www.asp.net/

jeremy · 07-10-2003, 12:24 PM

PHP has Native DB Drivers for many DB's. If you want an IDE similar to VS (including local debugging) see:

http://www.zend.com/store/products/zend-studio.php

--jeremy

lackluster · 07-10-2003, 12:42 PM

thanks!

Sharlock · 07-16-2003, 12:27 AM

I would like to add some other informations about .NET:

Cost: Free IDE call WebMatrix is available
http://www.asp.net/webmatrix/default...dex=4&tabId=46

So you can program ASP.NET with no charge at all.

When you say "Can modify/fix a bug" not a chance... What do you mean?

Also, interesting article from a PHP developper:
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/871

Agalloch · 07-18-2003, 12:12 AM

As much as I love PHP, I'm going to play devil's advocate and make a case for ASP.NET, provided one condition: Is your company fully committed to Windows as its server platform, or could you possibly get them off of the MS solution? That's really a large factor here, for many reasons. I'll state a few that leap to my mind initially:

1. In for a penny, in for a pound: It's hard to argue cost of development tools when the company's already committed to shoveling money at Microsoft for the myriad licensing that being a Windows shop entails. Client and server OS's, SQL Server, Exchange, Office, etc.
2. If they are a MS shop, it's likely that they're already heavily invested in SQL Server, both in terms of staff expertise and all their business data being on it. If your apps are going to be talking to SQL Server, I don't think you can beat ADO.NET. The ADO libraries fit with SQL Server like a hand in a glove, both in terms of performance and functionality.

I agree with you about the fallacy of language neutrality. You really should standardize on one language for a development team, and in .NET that should almost always be C#. On bigger projects, the code separation that ASP.NET encourages is nice to implement (code-behind, compiled business logic, etc.). Not that you can't achieve a similar coding model with PHP, but it comes very naturally with ASP.NET. On smaller projects, this is less of an issue I suppose.

As far as Visual Studio, if your developers really know what they are doing and can find their way around the API's, they can use any number of editors and develop on .NET for no additional money. Plus, they get the additional benefit of learning to write and debug their own code instead of relying on code-generating wizards that needlessly create an additional layer of abstraction between the developer and the app. One noteworthy editor for .NET stuff is SharpDevelop, a GPL'd IDE written entirely in C#. Someone mentioned WebMatrix, but the knock on that is no Intellisense. SharpDevelop has it, and it makes life a LOT easier when trying to recall a million class methods/properties. I've also heard/read that Dreamweaver is an excellent .NET tool. It'll cost you, but not nearly as much as Visual Studio.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm quite fond of ASP.NET on it's own merits as a development platform. Still, it would *never* be enough to convince me to lock-in to MS as a server platform. But if the company's already a MS shop, and plans on staying one, I honestly think that ASP.NET is a better option than PHP. However, if you think they might want to migrate to another platform in the future, PHP gets the nod for being platform-independent.

Just my $.02. Good luck.

-- Jerry