The debate about PHP and Python is never-ending. This is because both languages are compelling and accessible programming languages. In this article, we’ll share with you when and where you should use either language.
First, why should you learn a server-side programming language, well backend development is one of the most sought after skills in today’s marketplace virtually. All businesses need websites that connect to a server on the backend; therefore, backend developers are high in demand. Companies are ready to pay a massive amount of money to developers to manage the backend well, which is effectively capable of this task.
What is Python?
Python is object-oriented and interpreted language and also it has high-level programming with dynamic semantics and built-in data structures combination. With dynamic typing and binding, it makes a very attractive rapid application development. For connecting existing components, we can also use it as a scripting or glue language.
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 a very versatile language also, prevalent for machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science.
What is PHP?
PHP is widely used for general-purpose scripting and it is an open-source language. It is suitable for web development and we can also embed it into HTML. Its primary use case is as a backend language.
What about market share PHP & Python?
It is the most widely used server-side, coding language useful 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 both PHP and Python are natural languages to learn. Easy being a relative term, there are countless tutorials online.
How to code either PHP or Python?
One thing you can hear often is developers saying that Python is a more straightforward language to learn because of the code format Python is stringent on how you format your code. This, in turn, makes it very easy to read and maintain. Still, on the other hand, PHP does not have strict code formatting, as Python does. So you’re going to find there’s a lot of different ways to format PHP code and, you also going to find that there’s a lot of PHP code there’s not formatted well at all, and that’s what makes it sometimes harder to read or to understand. Still, there’s a simple workaround for that 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 kind of old school to buy books, but we have an extensive library of books on how to code you’re also going to be able to find a lot of code examples online.
A Quick note: Be careful with code that you copy and paste make sure to develop locally. Reverse-engineer the code if you can and test thoroughly before using on a production website a couple of things you have to be careful with is outdated code, inefficient code, and insecure code. So remember the test locally.
What About Documentation?
Both PHP and Python have high documentation pages online where you see how to get started with the language, and you can learn about the syntax code flow. You’ll see some code examples and more. Combining the documentation pages with other online tutorials will help you learn how to code either language fast.
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 with a lot of other online forms.
What about Speed?
PHP seven, we’ve seen a lot of improvements that make it blazing fast. Python code is fast as well, but typically not as quick as PHP. There are a lot of factors that go into the speed of a website or web apps, such as code logic, hardware resources, and more.
When developing with PHP or Python
With PHP or Python or any language for that matter, you can always use vanilla code, meaning your custom code. Still, you could cut back significantly on development time by using pre-existing frameworks, libraries, and CMS’s. Time is money, and for PHP, you have Laravel, Symphony, Codeigniter, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc. And for Python, you have the Django, the Django CMS, Flask, Web 2 pi, Pylons pyramid, etc. There are lots of options for getting work done faster than writing all the code by 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 and for PHP you have Composer.
What about Deployment and Hosting?
PHP comes with pre-installed on virtually all shared hosting servers and accounts and is easy to install on a VPS or dedicated server. Python, on the other hand, will take a little bit more work to get started with, and we recommend using either Edunbox.com on a node which has excellent documentation pages on how to get started with Python on their website.
Making Money with PHP vs. Python
A significant factor that a lot of coders consider is where the money is. Skilled Python developers tend to make more than experienced PHP developers. The reason is Python is used again for machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science. These are fields that have a lot of money behind them, but there are also many more complex fields.
PHP developers can make a great living, working either from large companies for agencies or as a freelancer. Some PHP developers who focus on a particular on framework or a specific on CMS can make a significant amount of 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 as well.
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, and 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 very simple, maybe a little too simplistic. If you want to focus on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science, then Python is the language to learn. If you’re going to focus on creating dynamic web sites, then PHP is the language you should learn. It also depends on where you want to work.
Companies are all over the map in terms of what languages they like to use. Most companies do 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 can just recommend that you should always use the right tool for your job. Newer startups, who are 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, then PHP reigns supreme.
PHP and Python, both programming languages, are compelling and accessible. 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 leave your comments down below, happy coding.
Author’s Bio
Name: – Harsh Kumar Sharma
Location: – Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Designation: – Seo Executive
