Which is Better for Back End Web Development: PHP OR Python?

Quick Summary

In today's age, the marketplace is focused on interactive websites and mobile apps. The development of a successful website or application begins with the choice of a reliable programming language. Selecting an intelligent technology base, including programming languages, has become essential to deliver efficient, scalable, reliable, secure, and flexible development projects.

There are dozens of programming languages, but PHP and Python are the two most widely used programming languages among web developers. They both have their own set of benefits and drawbacks, unique functionalities, features, market size, and many standard software development capabilities. So, the only question that remains is which one to choose for web development? Python or PHP.

So this post describes a detailed comparison of PHP and Python to help you choose the most suitable one for your web development project.

Let's get started!

What is Python?

Python is an open-source high-level object-driven, interpreted programming language with dynamic semantics, commonly used for web development, software testing, AI, machine learning, and system scripting. Guido Van Rossum established the language, which was initially released in February 1991.

Python is a high-performance unified architecture combined with dynamic typing and binding, making it a suitable language for rapid application development.

Python improves the emphasis on code legibility, and its syntax lets developers write code in a few lines. Python is considered to be the best option for new entrants as it is easy to compare to direct competitors. It has significant features like data analysis and data visualization which helps?Python development companies?to build excellent and scalable web apps.

What is PHP?

PHP (Personal Home Page) is a Hypertext Preprocessor and an open-source scripting language widely used for server-side web development. It is one of the most ancient programming languages, discovered by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994.

PHP is mainly used for creating dynamic HTML content. It improves the ability to generate page content dynamically. PHP has the ability to create, open, read, write, delete and close files on the server.

What's more, it lets you collect, send, and receive data from cookies. The user-friendly nature of the PHP database makes it possible for users to add, delete, modify, and control user access and encrypt data.

Both beginners and non-technical people can utilize this programming language easily and build great modern applications.

Pros of PHP

• Enormous ecosystem
• Database collection modules
• Object-oriented and open-source server-side language
• Interoperability - includes numerous pluggable frameworks
• Platform independent - run on the various operating system and works cross-platform
• Speedy Performance
• Deep code-based programming
• Robust security functionality - prevents websites from becoming a target of security attacks
• Enables top-class debugging

Cons of PHP

• Wired and impeded performance
• No IoT alliance
• Lack of perceptibility and direction
• Externally dependent
• Each PHP framework differs in its quality
• Poor security level
• Poor management for large content-based applications
• Employs weak typing - leads to inaccurate data and knowledge for users
• Incapable to deal with a large number of apps

Pros of Python

• Object-oriented and solid library support - enable programmers to write neat and clean codes
• Cross-platform code reusability
• Portable in nature due to WORA functionality
• Highly-Responsive
• Rich set of integration features, extensive control capabilities, and unit testing framework - improves the speed and
• productivity
• Third-party modules support
• Open-source - easily accessible
• Uniformly unfolding language

Cons of Python

• Less useful in Smartphone computing and browsers - rarely seen on the client-side
• Design restrictions lead to run-time errors
• Delayed testing of web applications
• A little too simple for certain tasks
• Utilizes large amounts of memory during application building
• Weak database access layers development
• Slow speed Vis-a-vis other web development languages

PHP vs Python: In-Depth Comparison

There is fierce competition between PHP and Python. For a better understanding of which is the best among PHP Vs Python, we compared them on certain parameters. So, let’s get started!

1. Performance

As far as performance is concerned, both languages are really good. Since PHP was originally intended to be a tool for building web applications and dynamic websites, it was initially slightly slower than Python. With the output of PHP 7, the speed of the language has increased dramatically, and now its speed is almost the same as that of Python. Developers can easily deal with massive amounts of data in one go with high speed.

To build simple and small-scale apps or websites, both languages are ideal.

Conclusion:?Both are performance-focused.

2. Ease of Learning

Both languages share so many similarities. Both languages ??are dynamically typed, object-oriented, possess excellent IDE support, and can run on multiple operating systems. But when it's about ease of learning, Python beats PHP. PHP comes with a rigid syntax, which makes it complicated and rather difficult to comprehend. Earlier versions of PHP were quite complex.

On the other hand, Python is fairly easy to understand because of its high readability. Moreover, Python-based codes can be easily read, interpreted, and are shorter in length, making the debugging process easier to understand. That's why many programming courses use Python to teach basic programming to beginners.

Conclusion:?Python is a clear winner.

3. Library Support

When it comes to comparing both languages, you simply cannot avoid the subject of library support. Python has “Pip Installs Python” (Pip) which is used for package control. Pip is quick and facilitates library management for a Python application, as well as analyzing your project's requirements.

Web applications supported by AI and ML are popular these days. Python has a wide range of machine learning libraries, including TensorFlow, Scikit, Learn, Keras, Theano, and many more mature libraries.

Unlike Python, PHP does not have adequate library support. However, PHP 7 features Composer, which is an excellent library but is still young. Since Python has much better and mature packages, it is the superior choice of?web applications development company.

Conclusion:?Python is comparatively better.

4. Security

Code written in any language, be it PHP or Python, should have a high-security environment. This ensures that a company is protected from external threats such as viruses and malicious software. Python comes with multiple security features that help you to build complex applications.

For example, Python development services support Django, which includes security features to keep applications secure and enable developers to effectively deal with threats.

Unlike Python, a lot of PHP applications can have security problems because of old coding practices and faulty code. Nevertheless, PHP works continuously to improve security, but problems occur from time to time.

Conclusion:?Python wins hands down.

5. Documentation

Proper documentation is an absolute must for every web development company. Python development services provide excellent documentation, plus it is written in a more convenient manner. Python's documentation is free of technical jargon, which makes it more understandable for people.

PHP also features robust documentation. The only drawback is that while reading the documentation pages, you can find some comments which are over the top, are out of date and they are no longer genuine. No such issues exist with the Python documentation.

However, the documentation provided by both languages is excellent. There are virtually all the answers to any questions you may have during the development process.

Conclusion:?Both have excellent documentation.

6. Debugging

When a web development company works on project development, they must be ready for both circumstances, when things are going well and when they don’t. And if there are bugs in your application/website, it will not work as intended and may also present security risks. At this point, you might need an efficient debugger to understand what went wrong.

Both PHP and Python have brilliant debuggers that come with powerful debugging features, including IDEs, stacks, breakpoints, path mapping, and more. Both debuggers are simple to use; the only difference between them is their configuration.

With Python, all you have to do is hit the "Debug" button, and you'll get rid of errors, achieve better performance, and secure applications. With PHP, you need to do some configuration work, which can be easily done.

Conclusion:?Both have tremendous debuggers, keeping your application secure and up to date.

7. Syntax

Syntax-error-free programming is always a critical point that developers generally take into account when acquiring a language. And here Python beats PHP. Because Python's syntax is written almost like plain English. Python's syntax is exceedingly legible. Besides, it utilizes dynamic typing techniques as well as explicit definition techniques.

Whereas PHP has a complex syntax that entails some limitations when encoding. Also, it is quite advanced and can be time-consuming to learn. For this reason, developers opt for Python for simple syntax programming.

Conclusion:?Python wins again, as learning and working on it is easier.

8. Framework

A framework can deliver scores of helpful functions. It helps developers build custom products based on the needs of the customer. Python, as well as PHP, provide a broad array of options for web-based frameworks. Both provide solid and reflective frameworks for website development.

Python is popular for?Django?and?Flask?which is rocket-fast, secure, and user-friendly. PHP, on the other hand, uses Zend, Symfony, Laravel, Codeigniter. A lot of modern PHP applications are using such frameworks these days because of their minimal setup requirements, greater scalability, and faster performance. These frameworks are well known and you can find them in an extremely large volume of web software tracks.

Since there are different frameworks for the broad implementation of both languages, it is difficult to compare Python and PHP for this criterion. Comparatively, Python has a lower number of frameworks than PHP for web development.

Conclusion:?Both have excellent frameworks, but PHP has a lot of frameworks for web development.

9. Developer's Community and Support

It is advisable to have an active and supportive development community. This assists emerging developers and curious professionals in dispelling their doubts. Python and PHP provide a wider and more cohesion-based community and support.

So, whether you are a newbie or not a professional in programming yet, you should still not be concerned. Nevertheless, among PHP and Python, PHP provides outstanding community support. It is more popular as it has made its mark itself in the market for quite some time now. You can get dedicated help quickly and more efficiently from PHP development companies. You can also ask questions to better understand your programming and web development skills and build your breakthrough for success.

Conclusion:?PHP is comparatively better.

10. Developer's Community and Support

Python and PHP both are highly popular and highly categorized programming languages. If you are thinking about which language has a higher demand for web development, then the answer is Python. Statistics indicate that PHP accounts for 21.9% of user-share while Python 48.2%.

Python is extremely popular and is growing in the list of top web development languages. Today, many technology giants have chosen Python as the development language for their search engines. Some of the most popular examples of websites built with Python are - Instagram, Spotify, Netflix, Uber, Dropbox, Pinterest, Google, and many more.

Python has enormous commercial value in the current technological world. The requirements of PHP developers in comparison are diminishing day by day. However, PHP is still a prime choice for the development of a high-traffic website. PHP provides outstanding community support.

Conclusion:?Despite the fact that both are popular in their own aspects, Python is widely recognized.

PHP vs. Python: When to Use which?

Both programming languages support web development but are utilized at different times as required. Both are the best in their own ways, including features, functionalities, documentation, library support, and other factors.

Find out which language is right for you and when:

PHP

• Preferred for those who are new to web development
• Websites, blogs, and web applications development
• To work efficiently on server-side
• Low investments

Python

• Preferable when working with data science, AI, and machine learning
• While working on large-scale projects using Django's infrastructure
• When you want an in-depth data analysis
• System Scripting

Simply put, your needs determine the programming language for your web development project. So be sure to have specific needs, because the entire development of the mainframe depends on it.

Wrapping Up

Python and PHP both are excellent in their own ways. Each programming language has its perk and is better at a specific thing. Sometimes you find Python to be better than PHP, whereas sometimes PHP is better.

The first thing to consider is the specific requirement of your project. Because your requirements determine your web development project's programming language. For instance, if your app concept needs machine learning codes, Python is the best solution. And if you need a sophisticated e-commerce website then opt for PHP and enjoy its rugged features.

We hope this article has guided you to choose the right option of web development language to pursue your web development.