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PHP vs ASP

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 3:55 pm
by SteveJackson
Hello all,

I am completely new to PHP, never even looked at the coding before today. However a project I may be working on requires I use open source code solutions such as PHP or Java servelets to make the project dynamic.

I have used ASP in the past to do this, (database connections, server side scripting etc) and notice that PHP seems very similar code wise;

<? php any code here is PHP ?>

Is PHP as powerful a tool as ASP?

No doubt many developers here will be biased against Microsoft apps (in many cases understandably so) but I'd like some advice on generally how to go about get started with developing applications in PHP, tutorial sites, servers which you'd recommend and any other general opinions you may have.

Thanks.

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 4:11 pm
by RandomEngy
twigletmac put together a nice list of tutorials:
http://www.devnetwork.net/forums/viewto ... =2099#9787

As for the PHP vs ASP question, I havn't used ASP, but have found PHP to do everything I need it to do, and I'm sure the majority of the board would say that PHP is superior.

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 4:14 pm
by BDKR
Cool quote. Do you play guitar?

Anyways, phpbuilder.com, phpdeveloper.org, phpcomplete.com all have some good tutorials. Also, if you need a good class lib there is Eclispe (http://www.students.cs.uu.nl/people/voo ... /index.php) and ADOB (http://php.weblogs.com/ADODB).

You'll also hear of Pear, but I stay away from it.

I can't imagine what else you'll need to know. Oh, considering your background, I suspect you are developing on Windows. Is this correct? If you are going to use Windows during this development process, keep in mind that not as many of PHP's abilities are available to you.

Have fun,
BDKR (TRC)

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 1:56 am
by twigletmac
BDKR wrote:If you are going to use Windows during this development process, keep in mind that not as many of PHP's abilities are available to you.
Hey, this could be a bit misleading. PHP is portable, that means, unlike ASP, you can move it to almost any server setup you like with minimal pain. As a PHP developer who works on Windows and IIS (if somewhat reluctantly) I have never felt that I was missing out on lots of PHP capability. I think it's more that you miss out on OS and server capability. There are some functions in PHP which are *nix specific and a couple of little bits won't work on IIS but do on Apache but their all marked as such in the manual. I know you probably meant that BDKR but I don't think the quote above says that.

Anyway as for ASP vs. PHP, we've gradually converting from being a Microsoft shop to an Opensource development and the first thing that was done was moving from ASP to PHP. I can honestly say that aside from ASP being easier to use when you want to connect to an Access (yuck) database PHP has been able to do everything ASP could do.

For what others have to say on the subject:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid ... php+vs+asp

Mac

Thanks for your opinions.

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 8:23 am
by SteveJackson
Thanks for the help, mucho appreciated!

No I don't play guitar but would like to! B.B. King is 8)

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 8:51 am
by BDKR
Hi Twig,

You are right. I need to change how I'm looking at it. I think my view is Unix-centric.

Besides, I've been doing a bit of stuff lately that takes PHP out of the web development scope and have got my feet wet with things like shared memory, semaphores, and process control. Last I checked, those things still aren't available for Windows.

However, it's cool to see that there is the W32api set of functions. PHP seems to be growing and growing.

Later on,
BDKR

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 10:50 pm
by jason
Just to point out on the Windows side of things:

1. COM Objects can be used on Windows, which can be nice for things, and...
2. Microsoft itself has helped the PHP group make PHP run nicer on Windows. This is because Microsoft customers wanted it, and Microsoft is a Customer oriented company (If big customers want something, MS will probably follow suit).

PHP vs ASP

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2002 6:13 am
by Kriek
I think ASP is a good and useful technology, but in the long run I believe PHP will prove superior -- both technically and in popularity. I've been using PHP, ASP, & ColdFusion for some time now & really like PHP. ASP is certainly going to be more comfortable for developers with a VB background, and PHP for those with a C background. I personally think ASP tends to make sloppy code, however PHP syntax (similar to C) mostly helps the coding process, unlike VBScript style hinderances.

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2002 12:02 pm
by twigletmac
I'm all set with asp with the requirements (but will use PHP for my own site) for my company, because of hearing so much attack and also quite a majority of people out there saying is not professional to use php for large site. Because if its open source, who can we blame if there's a bug?
Saw this in another PHP forum and had a bit of a laugh. Fairly sure that for 'majority of people' you can probably read 'Microsoft Salesman'. I mean does that mean that noone ever tries to hack ASP sites or if they do that they are totally secure against such attacks?

Mac

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2002 12:14 pm
by jason
Hacking ASP or PHP is the same thing. I can code an insecure ASP site just as fast as I can code a PHP site. I can also secure both of them.

The problem is that with an ASP site, the underlying operating system and server is usually more insecure.

People who claim PHP is less secure than ASP really have no room to talk. ASP and PHP are not the same thing. ASP is a framework, and PHP is a language.

Another question people ask is "Who do we blame?". Who cares? You blame M$ for virus/bugs/problems, but what does that accomplish. The question you need to have these people ask is "Who can solve the problem?" and "Who is less error prone in the first place?".

I don't know about you, but if I told my boss "It's not my fault the site is down, blame Linus Torvalds" won't cut it. Also, saying "Can't work today, MS can't write a secure Email Client" won't work either. Who care's who's fault it is. It's how fast the problem can be fixed, and where you can find people to fix these problems.