In today’s increasingly competitive tech world, PHP and Python are indeed the two most widely used server-side languages in enterprises. Both Python and PHP are high-level languages that dominate the world of web application development. Python is a general-purpose programming language that is excellent for data science and artificial intelligence, whereas PHP is employ primarily as a back-end scripting language.
In the “PHP vs. Python” discussion, choosing one side is difficult. While PHP is used to programme a significant proportion of websites, Python utilization has been sharply increasing over the previous two years. If you’re wondering whether Python programming is ideal for your project or PHP, you’ve come to the correct place.
In this article, we’ll compare the various features & applications of PHP vs Python to help you decide which is the best option for your needs.
Let’s begin with their definitions.
What is Python?
Python was developed by Guido Van Rossum and launched in 1990. Python is a high-level, object-oriented, interpreted language that is used to create standalone programmes and algorithms for a variety of domains. Using well-known frameworks like Django, Flask, and Web2Py, Python can be utilized for web development. In order to complete jobs involving statistics and machine learning, analysts and data scientists also make extensive use of it.
What is PHP?
PHP, also known as Hypertext Preprocessor, was developed in 1994 by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf. It is a popular open-source programming language.
It is employ to produce dynamic HTML content for the internet. Frequently us to create XML documents, Flash animations, images, PDF files, and much more. Laravel, Symfony, and Phalcon are a few well-known PHP frameworks.
Features of Python
- An easy to learn language and code
- Free and open source
- Object-oriented
- Cross-platform compatibility
- GUI support
- Incorporation of low-level modules
- Extensible with various modules
- Large codebases
- Widespread library support for basic functionality
- Automatic waste removal
- Interactive sessions for testing and troubleshooting.
- High-level dynamic data types & dynamic type checking
- Interpreted language: Java, C, and C++
- Vibrant community and developer support
Features of PHP
- User-friendly programming language
- Simple, flexible & easy to use
- Multiple database support, including Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL
- Efficient and fast performance
- Third-party application support and security
- Real-time access monitoring
- Cross-platform support
- Scripting language
- Built-in error reporting constants: generate error notifications or alerts
- Open-source
- Vibrant community support
- Narrow learning curve & simple syntax
Application of Python
Web Development
Python development company offers a wide range of frameworks that offer security, scalability, and reusable components and simplify web development.
Game Development
To create interactive 3D games, Python includes an extensive library support system, including PyGame and PySoy.
Data Science
Tasks like data analysis, web scraping, visualisation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are now significantly simpler to accomplish because of the assistance that Python offers with its plethora of libraries, including numpy, pandas, scipy, scikit-learn, seaborn, and many others.
Desktop Graphical User Interface
Python desktop apps can be created by combining the Tkinter library with various widgets like PYQT and Kivy.
Embedded Applications
Python can be utilized in embedded applications because of its flexibility in terms of computations. The Raspberry Pi is a well-known example of this.
Application of PHP
Web CMS
PHP is a powerful programming language that connects with numerous services via protocols like IMAP, POP3, HTTP, COM, SNMP, etc. and extends support to a various databases including SQL and NoSQL, and is highly suitable for creating CMS like WordPress, Moodle, Drupal, Joomla, and more.
Web Pages & Apps
Modern web pages and apps must offer a higher level of customisation, a highly interactive and friendly user experience, seamless integration, safe online transactions, and rapid performance. To address this requirement, PHP employs a three-tier design that operates sequentially on the server, database system, and browser.
Image Processing & Graphic Design
Text content, graphic design, and picture processing may all be efficiently managed with PHP. Many libraries, including ImageMagick, the GD library, Imagine, and more PHP-bas programmes can be integrated with it.
GUI-based Application
Using PHP-GTK 2 and ZZEE PHP GUI, you can construct GUI-based applications that support PHP scripts and compile your code into a standalone.exe file.
Data Visualization
Charts, graphs, and other types of data visualisation can be produc using tools like Image Graph in PHP.
e-commerce Application
By utilising PHP-based frameworks like CodeIgniter, creating an e-commerce app is simple.
Python vs PHP: Comparison
1. Easy of Learning
Python is the easiest language to learn when compared to all others. The simplest programming language is unquestionably Python. PHP will be simple to learn at first if you have some familiarity with a programming language like C or C++, but as you learn more about PHP, its syntax will get more complex. You must hire dedicated Python developers if you are new to computer programming.
Conclusion: Python is unquestionably the winner.
2. Performance
Both languages do excellently in terms of quality. PHP started out a little slower than Python because it was creat as a tool for creating dynamic websites and web applications. The speed of the language has significantly improved with PHP 7’s output, and it is now almost as fast as Python. Both languages are perfect for developing straightforward, small-scale apps or websites.
Conclusion: Both are performance-orient.
3. Syntax
Both are advanced languages, and the code is done in English-like syntax. In terms of syntax complexity, PHP is comparable to C, which is simple to read and comprehend. But PHP is a little bit trickier than C. Semicolons and brackets in PHP result in problems that are frequently quite challenging to spot. The syntax of the Python programming language, in contrast to PHP, is quite straightforward. Python is a tiny bit more error-proof since it utilises indentation rather than brackets, which makes it simpler to understand.
Conclusion: Python is comparatively better.
4. Community Support
A vibrant and helpful developer community is something that is ideal. It lets inquiring professionals and new developers have their questions answered. Both PHP and Python have a strong development community and have been available on the market for many years.As a result, there is a large community of PHP and Python developers that may offer assistance.
Conclusion: Both have excellent community support.
5. Security
Python has a variety of security features that can be us to build sophisticat applications with high-end capabilities and distinct objectives. For instance, Python development services support Django, which has security capabilities to protect applications and give developers the ability to successfully deal with attacks. In contrast to Python, a lot of PHP applications may experience security issues as a result of bad development techniques. Although PHP always strives to increase security, issues may occasionally arise.
Conclusion: For strong security, you must hire Python developers.
6. Documentation
Both programming languages are support by extensive documentation. Numerous websites, discussion boards, and forums offer top-notch training on how to create applications in Python or PHP.
Wrapped up
Both Python and PHP are outstanding in their own ways. Each programming language has its advantages and excels in a particular area. You may discover that Python is superior to PHP at times, and vice versa. The particular requirements of your project should be taken into account initially as the programming language us in your web development project is determin by your needs
