Python and PHP, both programming languages are used in backend development. However, both languages have different advantages and disadvantages. In this article on Python vs PHP, we will discuss the differences between Python and PHP programming languages.

What Are the Different Languages for Backend Development?

When you start with web development, you might be confused about which language to learn. For backend development, there are various programming languages that offer different modules. Let us have a look at some of these languages.

• Python is one of the most popular languages for backend development. Due to the availability of different dedicated libraries for web development tasks, it has gained popularity in recent years.
• PHP is widely used and is one of the older languages used for web development nowadays. Companies like Facebook still use PHP for backend development.
• JavaScript provides us with different web frameworks like NodeJS. It has helped JavaScript capture the attention of web developers and it is currently the most used programming language for web development.
• Microsoft had introduced .NET for backend development and it is widely used in enterprises.
• Ruby in Rails is a popular choice for web development in startups.

Features of Python Programming Language

Python is a beginner-friendly programming language and you can learn python very easily. It is cross-platform, and you can run a python code written on a windows machine, easily on a Linux machine. 

• With automatic garbage collection and dynamic data types, coding in python is very easy. Writing a Python program is often similar to writing instructions in the English language.
• Python provides dedicated modules for different tasks and you can include in-built code for almost every task in your program by downloading and importing the modules.
• Python codes can be integrated with Java, C++, and C language. This is due to the reason that most of the python libraries are written in these languages.
• Python provides an ideal structure for large codebases. Along with that, python also provides interactive testing and debugging tools that help you create good software. 

Features of PHP Programming Language

PHP is an open-source scripting language and it is considered one of the easiest scripting languages.

• PHP is very efficient compared to other scripting languages such as ASP and JSP.
• PHP offers support for different database management systems like Oracle and MySQL.
• PHP also offers predefined error checking constants that help in generating error notices and warnings.
• PHP also offers access logging by creating a summary of recent accesses of the user.

Suggested Reading: Best Coding Apps For Android in 2022.

Python vs PHP: Comparison of Features

Now that we have discussed the basic features of both the programming languages, let us compare the features of python and PHP language.

• Python is a general-purpose programming language while PHP is specifically designed as a scripting language.
• You can learn to code in python within an hour. However, PHP is hard to learn. 
• Python programs are shorter compared to PHP programs that do the same task. The syntax of python is also very easy compared to the syntax of PHP.
• PHP is a comparatively older programming language. Due to this, it has a large community. However, Owing to its simplicity and popularity, python isn’t very far from PHP too. You can find solutions to problems in both programming languages very easily in the developer community.
• Python is being used by popular platforms like Youtube, Netflix, Instagram, Pinterest, and Reddit. On the other hand, PHP is used in WordPress, Slack, Facebook, and Tumblr.
• Both python and PHP have very good documentation for their programming modules.
• Python and PHP both are open-source and completely free to use.

Python vs PHP for Web Development

To discuss python vs PHP for web development, you can consider the following points.

• For web development, python has a lesser number of frameworks while PHP developers have access to many frameworks. 
• The popular frameworks for web development in Python are Django, Flask, and jam.py. For PHP, Slim, Laravel, and Fast are the popular frameworks used for web development.
• Python is mainly used for machine learning, data science, etc. Due to this, it doesn’t have a good community of web developers. On the contrary, PHP developers enjoy a wide range of forums and community-driven platforms where they discuss ideas and provide solutions for problems.
• Python is a general-purpose programming language. Its features aren’t customized for web development. On the other hand, PHP is a specialized language for web development. 
• PHP supports connecting to more than 20 database management systems in web applications. Here, Python lacks behind and has support for very few database management systems.

Keeping these points in mind, you might have got an idea about the choice between Python and PHP for web development.  I would suggest you go with PHP for web development as it has a very low learning curve and you can get started very fastly. Neglecting other advantages of PHP, Python will only be suitable for you if you are going for a long-term web development project.  

Conclusion

After comparing Python vs PHP for web development and as a general-purpose language, you must have understood that python owes its popularity to features such as dynamic typing, easy syntax, and portability. On the other hand, PHP enjoys popularity due to easy web development features, rapid deployment, and continual improvement.

If you are a beginner in programming, I would recommend you to try both languages first. The one that best suits you is the best programming language for you.  That’s all for the discussion on Python vs PHP.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article. You can also have a look at this article on Java vs C++. Knowing the features of these languages will give you a wide variety of programming languages to choose from.

Stay tuned for more informative articles. 

Happy Learning!

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