Which is better and Why – Python vs PHP

The debate about PHP vs Python is never-ending. This is because both languages are compelling and accessible programming languages. In this article, we’ll share when and where you should use either language.

First, why should you learn a server-side programming language? Backend development is one of the most sought-after skills in today’s marketplace. All businesses need websites that connect to a server on the backend; therefore, backend developers are in high demand. Companies are ready to pay developers a massive amount of money to manage the backend well, which is effectively capable of this task.

What is Python?

Python is an object-oriented and interpreted language, and it also has high-level programming with dynamic semantics and built-in data structures combination. With dynamic typing and binding, it makes a beautiful rapid application development. We can also use it as a scripting or glue language to connect existing components.

In other words or simple language, Python is a general-purpose programming language that you could use to create programs for your computer or web development. It’s also a very versatile language, prevalent for machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science.

What is PHP?

PHP is an open-source language widely used for general-purpose scripting. It is suitable for web development and can also be embedded into HTML. Its primary use case is as a backend language.

What about market share in PHP & Python?

It is the most widely used server-side, coding language helpful website. It hovers around 80% market share, and on the other hand, Python is a general-purpose programming language that a lot of people use for machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science. Still, a smaller percentage use it for web development.

What about the learning curve?

How hard is it to learn one or the other, PHP or Python? The good thing is that both PHP and Python are natural languages that can be learned. Easy being a relative term, countless tutorials for Python and PHP courses online exist.

How to code either PHP or Python?

Because of the code format, developers often say Python is a more straightforward language. Python is stringent in how you format your code. This, in turn, makes it very easy to read and maintain. On the other hand, PHP does not have strict code formatting, unlike Python. So you’re going to find there’s a lot of different ways to format PHP code, and you’re also going to see that there’s a lot of PHP code that’s not formatted well at all, and that’s what makes it sometimes more challenging to read or to understand. Still, there’s a simple workaround: you could always format your PHP code to your liking.

Most universities like to use Python for GIS when demonstrating how to code. Both languages have a lot of resources like websites that’ll teach you how to code boot camps, YouTube videos, and you can even buy books.

We know it seems old school to buy books, but we have an extensive library of books on how to code. You can also find many code examples online.

A Quick note: Be careful with the code you copy and paste. Make sure to develop locally. Reverse-engineer the code if you can and test it thoroughly before using it on a production website. A couple of things you have to be careful with are outdated, inefficient, and insecure code. So remember to test locally.

What About Documentation?

Both PHP and Python have high documentation pages online where you can learn about the syntax code flow and how to get started with the language. You’ll see some code examples and more. Combining the documentation pages with other online tutorials will help you learn to code either language quickly.

What about community support?

Both PHP and Python have large and very passionate communities. Even if you’re learning by yourself, there’s always somewhere online that you go to find you’re not alone. You can check out Stack Overflow, which is very popular among developers, and many other online forms.

What about Speed?

PHP seven, we’ve seen a lot of improvements that make it blazing fast. Python code is also fast but typically not as quick as PHP. Many factors go into the speed of a website or web app, such as code logic, hardware resources, and more. Custom web application development should prioritize speed as a top 3 factor. If the web app runs slow, users will stop using it – no matter how good the rest of the application is.

When developing with PHP or Python

With PHP, Python, or any language, you can always use vanilla code, meaning your custom code. Still, you could reduce development time using pre-existing frameworks, libraries, and CMSs. Time is money; for PHP, you have Laravel, Symphony, Codeigniter, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc. And for Python, you have Django, Django CMS, Flask, Web 2 pi, Pylons Pyramid, etc. There are many options for getting work done faster than writing all the code yourself.

What about Package Managers?

Package managers are designed to eliminate the need for manual installs and updates, and they are vital to a productive workflow. For Python, you’d have Pitt; for PHP, you’d have Composer.

What about Deployment and Hosting?

PHP comes pre-installed on virtually all shared hosting servers and accounts and is easy to install on a VPS or dedicated server. On the other hand, Python will require a little bit more work to get started, and we recommend using Edunbox.com on a node with excellent documentation pages on how to get started with Python on its website.

Making Money with PHP vs Python

A significant factor that many coders consider is where the money is. Skilled Python developers tend to make more than experienced PHP developers. Python is used again for machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science. These fields have a lot of money behind them, but there are also many more complex fields.

PHP developers can make a great living working for large companies, agencies, or freelancers. Some PHP developers who focus on a particular framework or a specific CMS can make significant money depending on how they market their services. Typically a skilled Python developer can earn the amount of $100,000 annually while an experienced PHP developer receives the amount of about $80,000 plus annually. There’s no limit to how much money you can earn with either language.

It’s all about what you end up doing with that language. Think about Mark Zuckerberg. When he created Facebook, he used PHP, and now his worth is over 70 billion dollars. But wait, also think about Larry Page, who’s worth about 51 billion, and surely then, who’s worth about 50 billion, who created the Google search engine, which is powered by Python and other languages.

NOTE: In essence, you can make no money. You could be a struggling coder. You can make a decent wage. You can make the right amount of money; the sky’s the limit. Again, it all depends.

What to do with the language?

So which language should you learn Arcgis or use? The answer to that is straightforward, maybe a little too simplistic. If you want to focus on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science, Python is the language to learn. You should understand PHP if you focus on creating dynamic websites. It also depends on where you want to work.

Companies are all over the map regarding what languages they like to use. Most companies use various programming languages for different purposes. It’s like hiring contractors to work in your home when the contractors come over; do they just come with a hammer?

Final Thoughts!

We recommend that you always use the right tool for your job. Newer startups working with machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science will often favor Python. Bob, with the drug design agencies, if they’re working with a CMS like WordPress, PHP reigns supreme.

PHP and Python are both compelling and accessible programming languages. Try both out for a short amount of time and see which one you prefer. Hopefully, you enjoyed this article. If you did give it a big thumbs up, comment below. Happy coding.