Advice needed - ASP.NET vs PHP

[Dave Sell]

Hi all,

I currently use ASP 3.0 (bleh!) and I'm pushing my boss to go ASP.NET cause I hear alot of good things about it and I've thouroughly outgrown ASP 3.0.

He recently suggested we go the route of PHP instead of ASP.NET.

Anyone here used both? I'm looking for pro's and con's along the lines of "which is more Object Oriented" or "which lends itself to faster development" or "which is more robust" you get the idea.

Thanks!

[ober0330]

I've used a little ASP, but a lot of PHP. PHP just seems more powerful and portable than ASP. I think you can develop in both quickly, but I think your possibilities are greater in PHP.

I would also suggest you make the switch to PHP.

[Dave Sell]

Which versin of ASP and PHP have you used most?

[ober0330]

I'm not sure which version of ASP it was that I used (3.0 most likely), but I'm using PHP 4.3.4 and I'd like to switch to 5.

Like I said, I don't have a ton of experience in ASP, and definately not in ASP.NET.

[Dave Sell]

From what I've read, PHP is clearly better than ASP 3.0 (classic). You've got no argument from me on that topic.

What I'm looking for are comparisons between ASP.NET and PHP if anyone has any experience with them both (even just a little is OK).

I have to choose one soon.

[dj4uk]

I have experience of PHP, ASP and ASP.NET.

In my opinion ASP.NET blows PHP and ASP away (don't flame me please PHPphiles!).

It is an entirely new way of thinking about development and takes a while to get your head around. It uses post-backs so that where you might have used several webpages in PHP or ASP you just use one in ASP.NET extremely like Windows Forms development with for example Visual Basic 6 (in fact ASP.NET development is refered to as Web Forms development).

The most basic difference is the code separation from the HTML which makes sure your code is more robust.

Also ASP.NET is precompiled so it performs better than PHP which is interpreted.

ASP.NET is totally object orientated and this is fantasic for developing your own components - would never of dreamed of that in ASP or PHP but it is simple in ASP.NET. It makes complex projects in ASP or PHP look simple.

Also Mono has now been released which allows ASP.NET applications to be run not just on Windows servers.

Also don't believe people who say you need to use an IDE like Visual Studio .NET to develop ASP.NET pages. I've used notepad and command line to produce custom components so you don't need it if you don't want it (IDEs do speed things up though).

Don't expect ASP.NET to be an easier transistion from ASP as Visual Basic.NET is very different to VBScript or Visual Basic. I would suggest learning C# which may be less forgiving but again helps you to write more robust code.

Out of the 3 languages mentioned I would go for:
1. ASP.NET
2. PHP
3. ASP

It depends on the resources available to you.

HTH

DJ

[Dave Sell]

Originally posted by dj4uk
I have experience of PHP, ASP and ASP.NET.
...
Don't expect ASP.NET to be an easier transistion from ASP as Visual Basic.NET is very different to VBScript or Visual Basic. I would suggest learning C# which may be less forgiving but again helps you to write more robust code.
...
DJ

Thanks for the totally awesome opinion, but 2 (stoopid) questions:

- what does VB.NET have to do with ASP.NET?
- what does C# have to do with ASP.NET?


Would I have to learn VB.NET and/or C# in order to make ASP.NET pages? Also, what upgrades have to take place on my MSIIS server in order to run ASP.NET pages (files.aspx, right?)

I have a robust programming background, so I would definately not be opposed to learning 1 or the other, but I have to convince my boss that this is all going to be practical. Also he may have to learn a new language and he has voiced discontent/aprehension with this idea.

Thanks!

[dj4uk]

Ok with ASP you can use VBScript or JScript. With ASP.NET you can use Visual Basic.NET or C# or J# or loads of others. ASP.NET is just the framework.

If you are going to move to PHP then you'll have to learn a new language too. If he doesn't want to learn one then you'll be stuck with ASP forever! (Trust me its worth the learning curve).

To run ASP.NET files on IIS all you need to do is install the .NET framework on your server (freely downloadable from M$ website).

I would recommend buying a book about ASP.NET or finding some online tutorials and introductions.

DJ

[CornedBee]

I lack experience in ASP.Net, but I know this: in the current version of ASP.Net, it's nearly impossible to produce standards-compliant web pages, especially XHTML. This might not be an issue for you, for me it would be.

[AvisSoft]

Hello!

i have used all 3 php, asp and asp.net and i really liked asp as it looked like i was working in vb only. but asp.net is totally different but i liked it too as it was very powerful. So why i started developing in php ?

The main reason is that php hosting is too cheap. And Windows hosting costs a lot of $$$. So to facilitate my customers and be cheaper to them cost wise i decided to go php. Its not too difficult to learn but believe me ASP.Net makes a thing whole lot easier once you get a hold of it.

I hope you understand. For my personal use i would go for ASP or ASP.Net. For my customers i would go for PHP.

Thanks!

[visualAd]

Originally posted by CornedBee
I lack experience in ASP.Net, but I know this: in the current version of ASP.Net, it's nearly impossible to produce standards-compliant web pages, especially XHTML. This might not be an issue for you, for me it would be.

Doesn't ASP.net have function similar to echo which lets you send HTML directly to the browser . If not then thats one very good reason to use PHP.

PHP is Open Source and platform independant, its very easy to learn and it is also very, very flexible. You can gaurantee whatever the requirements of your application; PHP will be able to handle it. The only other programming language I know which offers this kind of flexibility is C. - unfortunately its not as easy to learn as PHP.

[dj4uk]

CornedBee - yes that can be true - I produce W3C WAI compliant websites and using ASP.NET can make things difficult but not impossible - you find a way in the end. Luckily this will change with ASP.NET 2.0 which is out sometime this year I think.

visualAd - yes it does but that defeats the whole point of ASP.NET its not the best way to do things.

Don't get me wrong I'm not slagging off PHP (I've used it alot) - ASP.NET is just a new way of doing things in comparison to PHP and ASP.

PHP and ASP are easier to learn that ASP.NET too but its also easier to write ****e code for these.

DJ