Choosing between PHP and Node.js for backend development depends on several factors, including project requirements, team expertise, and performance considerations. Here’s a comparison to help you decide:
PHP
- Maturity: PHP has been around since the mid-1990s and has a vast ecosystem, including frameworks like Laravel and Symfony.
- Simplicity: It is relatively easy to learn and use, especially for small to medium-sized web applications.
- Hosting: PHP is widely supported by most web hosting providers, making deployment straightforward.
- Synchronous Execution: PHP executes code synchronously, which can b
Choosing between PHP and Node.js for backend development depends on several factors, including project requirements, team expertise, and performance considerations. Here’s a comparison to help you decide:
PHP
- Maturity: PHP has been around since the mid-1990s and has a vast ecosystem, including frameworks like Laravel and Symfony.
- Simplicity: It is relatively easy to learn and use, especially for small to medium-sized web applications.
- Hosting: PHP is widely supported by most web hosting providers, making deployment straightforward.
- Synchronous Execution: PHP executes code synchronously, which can be simpler for traditional web applications but may lead to performance bottlenecks under heavy load.
- Community and Libraries: There is a large community and many libraries available, especially for content management systems (e.g., WordPress).
Node.js
- Performance: Node.js is built on Chrome's V8 engine and handles asynchronous operations efficiently, making it suitable for applications requiring high concurrency (like real-time applications).
- JavaScript: If your team is already familiar with JavaScript (for frontend development), using Node.js allows for a unified development stack.
- Non-blocking I/O: This model allows for handling multiple requests simultaneously, which can improve performance for I/O-heavy applications.
- Microservices: Node.js is often preferred for microservices architecture due to its lightweight nature and ability to scale easily.
- Package Management: npm (Node Package Manager) provides access to a large number of packages and modules.
Considerations
- Use Case: If you are building a simple website or a CMS, PHP may be more straightforward. For real-time applications (like chat applications or collaborative tools), Node.js might be better.
- Team Expertise: If your team has experience with one technology over the other, that can significantly influence the choice.
- Long-term Maintenance: Consider the long-term maintenance and scalability of the application. Node.js can be more suited for scalable applications due to its event-driven architecture.
Conclusion
There is no definitive answer to which is "better"; it largely depends on the specific needs of your project. If you prioritize speed and scalability, Node.js might be the way to go. If you need a quick and easy solution for a standard web application, PHP could be more appropriate.
If you listen to “language evangelists” high pitching, they are going to make your head explode with stuff like “language XYZ social media popularity” or other useless stuff like Tiobe index and so on.
A professional or a company looks at:
1. Is it reliable?
2. Does it solve my customers issues?
3. Is it good enough to solve my customers issues?
4. Is it easy and cheap to hire people to use it, in m
If you listen to “language evangelists” high pitching, they are going to make your head explode with stuff like “language XYZ social media popularity” or other useless stuff like Tiobe index and so on.
A professional or a company looks at:
1. Is it reliable?
2. Does it solve my customers issues?
3. Is it good enough to solve my customers issues?
4. Is it easy and cheap to hire people to use it, in my area?
5. Is it easy and cheap to host it?
Basing on these questions, a professional rationally and pragmatically chooses the best tool for the job. Some times it’s PHP. Some times it’s Node.js. Some times it’s Go. Some times it’s Python. Some times it’s Java. And so on.
A professional has more than a generous toolbelt and mindset, that can accept and fit diversity.
Some short examples, in no way all encompassing:
1. Is it reliable? PHP, Go and Python are solid like rocks. Their approach comes from a “before horizontal scaling” and “before redundancy” mindset. 20 years ago, unless you were a large corporation, you had one server and you had to be good with that. Go is newer but it’s very “classic” and awesome enough to create system services. Node.js and Java are made to run in redundancy. On small companies (the majority, outside of the USA) you won’t be able to sell a nice architecture. In there, a “born to be rock solid with one server” solution will probably be better.
A little commentary about: “PHP is insecure”: sure, as it’s insecure whoever is stuck with year 2007 rookie practices and who, in 2018, still does not know about parametric queries, nor about input sanitizing, nor about passwords hashing and salting. This is not unique of PHP, PHP just happened to be so easy and quick to learn, that those rookies embraced it instead of learning something more convoluted.
2. Does it solve my customers issues? PHP is the king of “solve things fast”, it takes like 5 minutes having a WAMP [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WampServer ] or MAMP [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAMP ] setup. It takes about another 5 minutes having all the PHP packages [ https://packagist.org/ ] installed and running. Other languages, even those with packages, have a lot more “moving parts” to put together. PHP is simply unbeatable (as of now) at creating prototypes for startups. Only Python is comparable, mostly because, Python is so strong with AI, data analysis and financial analysis libraries that overcomes any disadvantage. In these cases, Python >> PHP. It takes another 5 minutes finding a cheap host where to upload / git push the PHP application.
If you require a complex or large, reliable enterprise solution, you probably want to use Java.
If you want to horizontally and easily scale up, then Node.js is a no brainer.
But beware, orchestrators like Consul can make PHP or Go achieve high scalability directly to the microservices level. I am installing a Consul high availability multi-server setup right now.
3. Is it good enough to solve my customers issues? All the listed languages are good enough. Some are more business oriented, like Java, and you’ll have to pay with increased workforce the fact you have a complete, reliable, enterprise grade platform. Node.js will excel at delivering volume and tight integration between backend and frontend. PHP and Python excel at “solve it quick” but can also be used for mor...
There are several ways to get access to GoLand for free or with minimal expense:
- Participate in the Early Access Program. EAP builds let you try out the latest features for free. Please be aware that these builds are not fully tested and might be unstable. Just like the releases, EAPs happen three times a year, each lasting for 8-9 weeks. All EAP builds are valid for 30 days from their date of release. You can learn more about it here.
- Take advantage of special offers. Just like all JetBrains IDEs, GoLand is available for free to students and open-source contributors. There are also free license
There are several ways to get access to GoLand for free or with minimal expense:
- Participate in the Early Access Program. EAP builds let you try out the latest features for free. Please be aware that these builds are not fully tested and might be unstable. Just like the releases, EAPs happen three times a year, each lasting for 8-9 weeks. All EAP builds are valid for 30 days from their date of release. You can learn more about it here.
- Take advantage of special offers. Just like all JetBrains IDEs, GoLand is available for free to students and open-source contributors. There are also free licenses for user groups and other special offers. Read the details on this page.
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Finally, keep in mind that there is a 20% discount for the second year and a 40% discount for the third year onwards. For individuals, it means that you’ll have to pay only a few US dollars a month for the third year and beyond. Check out prices for individuals and organizations.
It’s going to be difficult to argue against the majority, but I’ve never been one to go just along with everyone else.
Personally I would choose PHP over Node every time. It’s considerably more mature, the toolchain is great, the package manager (Composer) is brilliant, and libraries are available for almost everything.
When I switch from PHP to JS I’m always dismayed by the lack of type hinting, for example. Sure, you can use TypeScript (and you really should), but it’s not baked into the language.
And this is the crux of my problem with Node (and JS in general); very little is built in. You nee
It’s going to be difficult to argue against the majority, but I’ve never been one to go just along with everyone else.
Personally I would choose PHP over Node every time. It’s considerably more mature, the toolchain is great, the package manager (Composer) is brilliant, and libraries are available for almost everything.
When I switch from PHP to JS I’m always dismayed by the lack of type hinting, for example. Sure, you can use TypeScript (and you really should), but it’s not baked into the language.
And this is the crux of my problem with Node (and JS in general); very little is built in. You need to install something for everything. The language is so lightweight that it doesn’t really do anything at all without installing a thousand and one libraries, and have you ever looked in the node_modules
directory?
Oh yeah, you can probably install a module for anything, but when you need to build basic functionality from packages from all manner of different authors, some of whom may or may not keep up to date with security issues, you’re running a big risk. It’s similar to WordPress (which yes, is a PHP app) where template and plugin authors abandon their product, or don’t update it in time to work with the latest core update.
PHP has gone from just being that simple language that every host supported, to being a pretty solid, secure platform in recent years. The performance improved tremendously with 7.0, and security is improving with every release, the most significant being the bundling of libsodium in PHP 7.2. The core does a lot straight out of the box.
Node is convenient in that you can write code that works on the server and the front-end, but the reality is that we only use JS in the front-end because historically it’s been the only choice (Java Applets and plugins like Flash excepted, of course).
I’m not expecting many upvotes because this isn’t the popular answer, but that’s my opinion.
It really depends on what you mean by better. Do you mean, spend less on servers at the expense of your users? Or does it mean building scalable code from the outset? Or does it mean writing good, readable code?
Node will let you write code that can handle thousands of connections per process. The downside is when you accidentally crash or hold up a process, you can annoy thousands of users with ju
It really depends on what you mean by better. Do you mean, spend less on servers at the expense of your users? Or does it mean building scalable code from the outset? Or does it mean writing good, readable code?
Node will let you write code that can handle thousands of connections per process. The downside is when you accidentally crash or hold up a process, you can annoy thousands of users with just a single line of code. Php is “shared nothing” meaning each page request is a complete process. It won’t let your server run out of memory or kill thousands of request with one line of code.
That being said, it lets you write scalable code from the outset. Node generally shares memory information across all of its requests. This means you can get away with some nifty stuff without needing a priority queue or some kind of messaging system. That’s pretty handy, but when you start scaling, you’ll realize how much code you have to rewrite.
With php’s shared nothing architecture, you don’t really need libraries. Sure, they’re handy. But if you can’t figure out how to leftpad() in less time than it takes you to look it up… you might need a different profression.
This means you get a very consistent a...
PHP and Node.js are compared in the following ten rounds. Each bout considers a general development challenge which could be applied to any web technology. We won’t go too deep; few people will care about the relative merits of random number generators or array sorting algorithms.
The overall winner will be the technology which wins the most rounds. Ready? Let the battle commence …
Round 1: Getting Started
How quickly can you build a “Hello World” web page? In PHP:
<?php
echo 'Hello World!';
?>
The code can be placed in any file which is interpreted by the PHP engine — typically, one with a .php exte
PHP and Node.js are compared in the following ten rounds. Each bout considers a general development challenge which could be applied to any web technology. We won’t go too deep; few people will care about the relative merits of random number generators or array sorting algorithms.
The overall winner will be the technology which wins the most rounds. Ready? Let the battle commence …
Round 1: Getting Started
How quickly can you build a “Hello World” web page? In PHP:
<?php
echo 'Hello World!';
?>
The code can be placed in any file which is interpreted by the PHP engine — typically, one with a .php extension. Enter the URL which maps to that file in your browser and you’re done.
Admittedly, this isn’t the whole story. The code will only run via a web server with PHP installed. (PHP has a built-in server, although it’s best to use something more robust). Most OSs provide server software such as IIS on Windows or Apache on Mac and Linux, although they need to be enabled and configured. It’s often simpler to use a pre-built set-up such as XAMPP or a virtual OS image (such as Vagrant). Even easier: upload your file to almost any web host.
By comparison, installing Node.js is a breeze. You can either download the installer or use a package manager. So let’s create our web page in hello.js:
var http = require('http');
http.createServer(function (req, res) {
res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/plain'});
res.end('Hello World!');
}).listen(3000, '127.0.0.1');
You need to start the app from the terminal with node hello.js before you can visit http://127.0.0.1:3000/ in your browser. We’ve created a small web server in five lines of code and, amazing though that is, even those with strong client-side JavaScript experience would struggle to understand it.
PHP is conceptually simpler and wins this round. Those who know a few PHP statements can write something useful. It has more software dependencies, but PHP concepts are less daunting to new developers.
There’s a greater intellectual leap between knowing some JavaScript and coding Node.js apps. The development approach is different from most server-side technologies, and you need to understand fairly complex concepts such as closures and callback functions.
Round 2: Help and Support
You won’t get far without some development assistance from the official documentation and resources such as courses, forums and StackOverflow. PHP wins this round easily; it has a great manual and twenty years’ worth of Q&As. Whatever you’re doing, someone will have encountered a similar issue before.
Node.js has good documentation but is younger and there is less help available. JavaScript has been around as long as PHP, but the majority of assistance relates to in-browser development. That rarely helps.
Round 3: Language Syntax
Are statements and structures logical and easy to use?
Unlike some languages and frameworks, PHP doesn’t force you to work in a specific way and grows with you. You can start with a few multi-line programs, add functions, progress to simple PHP4-like objects and eventually code beautiful object-oriented MVC PHP5+ applications. Your code may be chaotic to start with, but it’ll work and evolve with your understanding.
PHP syntax can change between versions, but backward compatibility is generally good. Unfortunately, this has led to a problem: PHP is a mess. For example, how do you count the number of characters in a string? Is it count? str_len? strlen? mb_strlen? There are hundreds of functions and they can be inconsistently named. Try writing a few lines of code without consulting the manual.
JavaScript is comparatively concise, with a few dozen core statements. That said, the syntax attracts venom from developers because its prototypal object model seems familiar but isn’t. You’ll also find complaints about mathematical errors (0.1 + 0.2 != 0.3) and type conversion confusion ('4' + 2 == '42' and '4' - 2 == 2) — but these situations rarely cause problems, and all languages have quirks.
PHP has benefits, but I’m awarding round three to Node.js. The reasons include:
JavaScript remains the world’s most misunderstood language — but, once the concepts click, it makes other languages seem cumbersome.
JavaScript code is terse compared to PHP. For example, you’ll no longer need to translate to/from JSON and — thankfully — UTF-8.
Full-stack developers can use JavaScript on the client and server. Your brain doesn’t need to switch modes.
Understanding JavaScript makes you want to use it more. I couldn’t say the same for PHP.
Round 4: Development Tools
Both technologies have a good range of editors, IDEs, debuggers, validators and other tools. I considered calling a draw but there’s one tool which gives Node.js an edge: npm — the Node Package Manager. npm allows you to install and manage dependencies, set configuration variables, define scripts and more.
PHP’s Composer project was influenced by npm and is better in some respects. However, it’s not provided with PHP by default, has a smaller active repository and has made less of an impact within the community.
npm is partially responsible for the growth of build tools such as Grunt and Gulp which have revolutionized development. PHP developers will probably want/need to install Node.js at some point. The reverse isn’t true.
Round 5: Environments
Where can the technologies be used and deployed? Which platforms and ecosystems are supported? Web developers often need to create applications which aren’t strictly for the web, e.g. build tools, migration tools, database conversion scripts, etc.
There are ways to use PHP for desktop and command-line app development. You won’t use them. At heart, PHP is a server-side development technology. It’s good at that job but is rarely stretched beyond those boundaries.
A few years ago, JavaScript would have been considered more restrictive. There were a few fringe technologies but its main place was in the browser. Node.js has changed that perception and there has been an explosion of JavaScript projects. You can use JavaScript everywhere — in the browser, on the server, terminal, desktop and even embedded systems. Node.js has made JavaScript ubiquitous.
Round 6: Integration
Development technologies are restricted unless they can integrate with databases and drivers. PHP is strong in this area. It’s been around for many years and its extensions system allow direct communication with a host of popular and obscure APIs.
Node.js is catching up fast, but you may struggle to find mature integration components for older, less-popular technologies.
Round 7: Hosting and Deployment
How easy is deploying your shiny new app to a live web server? It’s another clear win for PHP. Contact a random selection of web hosting companies and you’ll discover the majority offer PHP support. You’ll probably get MySQL thrown in for a bargain price. PHP is considerably easier to sandbox and more risky extensions can be disabled.
Node.js is a different beast and server-side apps run permanently. You’ll need a real/virtual/cloud or specialist server environment, ideally with root SSH access. That’s a step too far for some hosts, especially on shared hosting where you could bring down the whole system.
Node.js hosting will become simpler, but I doubt it’ll ever match the ease of FTP’ing a few PHP files.
Round 8: Performance
PHP is no slouch and there are projects and options which make it faster. Even the most demanding PHP developer rarely worries about speed but Node.js performance is generally better. Of course, performance is largely a consequence of the experience and care taken by the development team but Node.js has several advantages…
Fewer Dependencies
All requests to a PHP application must be routed via a web server which starts the PHP interpreter which runs the code. Node.js doesn’t need so many dependencies and, while you’ll almost certainly use a server framework such as Express, it’s lightweight and forms part of your application.
A Smaller, Faster Interpreter
Node.js is smaller and nimbler than the PHP interpreter. It’s less encumbered by legacy language support and Google has made a huge investment in V8 performance.
Applications are Permanently On
PHP follows the typical client-server model. Every page request initiates your application; you load configuration parameters, connect to a database, fetch information and render HTML. A Node.js app runs permanently and it need only initialize once. For example, you could create a single database connection object which is reused by everyone during every request. Admittedly, there are ways to implement this type of behavior in PHP using systems such as Memcached but it’s not a standard feature of the language.
An Event-driven, Non-Blocking I/O
PHP and most other server-side languages use an obvious blocking execution model. When you issue a command such as fetching information from a database, that command will complete execution before progressing to the next statement. Node.js doesn’t (normally) wait. Instead, you provide a callback function which is executed once the action is complete, e.g.
// fetch records from a NoSQL database
DB.collection('test').find({}).toArray(process);
console.log('finished');
// process database information
function process(err, recs) {
if (!err) {
console.log(recs.length + ' records returned');
}
}
In this example, the console will output ‘finished’ before ‘N records returned’ because the process function is called when all the data has been retrieved. In other words, the interpreter is freed to do other work while other processes are busy.
Note that situations are complex and there are caveats:
Node.js/JavaScript runs on a single thread while most web servers are multi-threaded and handle requests concurrently.
Long-running JavaScript processes for one user prevent code running for all other users unless you split tasks or use Web Workers.
Benchmarking is subjective and flawed; you’ll find examples where Node.js beats PHP and counter examples where PHP beats Node.js. Developers are adept at proving whatever they believe!
Writing asynchronous event-driven code is complex and incurs its own challenges.
I can only go from experience: my Node.js applications are noticeably faster than PHP equivalents. Yours may not be but you’ll never know until you try.
Round 9: Programmer Passion
This may be stretching the “general web development challenge” objective but it’s important. It doesn’t matter whether a technology is good or bad if you dread writing code every day.
It’s a little difficult to make comparisons but relatively few PHP developers are passionate about the language. When was the last time you read a PHP article or saw a presentation which captivated the audience? Perhaps everything has been said? Perhaps there’s less exposure? Perhaps I’m not looking in the right places? There are some nice features arriving in PHP7 but the technology has been treading water for a few years. That said, few PHP developers berate the language.
JavaScript splits the community. There are those who love it and those who hate it; few developers sit on the fence. However, response to Node.js has been largely positive and the technology is riding the crest of a wave. This is partly because it’s new and the praise may not last but, for now, Node.js wins this round.
Round 10: The Future
It doesn’t particularly matter which server-side language you use; it will continue to work even if the project is abandoned (yay ColdFusion!) Usage has possibly plateaued but many continue to use PHP. It’s a safe bet and support looks assured for another twenty years.
The ascent of Node.js has been rapid. It offers a modern development approach, uses the same syntax as client-side development and supports revolutionary HTML5 features such as web sockets and server-sent events. There has been some confusion regarding forks of the language but usage continues to grow at an exponential rate.
Node.js will inevitably eat into PHP’s market share but I doubt it will overtake. Both technologies have a bright future. I declare this round a draw.
The Overall Winner
The final score: five rounds to Node.js, four to PHP and one draw. The result was closer than I expected and could have gone either way.
Node.js has a steep learning curve and isn’t ideal for novice developers but it wins this smackdown. Just. If you’re a competent JavaScript programmer who loves the language, Node.js doesn’t disappoint. It feels fresher and offers a liberating web development experience — you won’t miss PHP.
But don’t discount it. PHP is alive and there’s little reason to jump on the Node.js bandwagon because it looks faster, newer or trendier. PHP is easier to learn yet supports proficient professional programming techniques. Assistance is everywhere and deployment is simple. Even die-hard Node.js developers should consider PHP for simpler websites and apps.
My advice: assess the options and and pick a language based on your requirements. That’s far more practical than relying on ‘vs’ articles like this!
I would say it is not an apple to apple comparison as PHP is a programming language and Node.js is a JavaScript-based run time environment. Yet, there is strong competition between both technologies.
PHP:
PHP is doing well in its own space. Most of the websites are built using PHP. It has been around for as long as Java or Python. However, the best reason to use PHP is its inexpensive web hosting as the result, it is cheaper to build backend applications using PHP. It is popular for building e-commerce websites, and content management systems. Frameworks like Laravel and CodeIgniter help in quic
I would say it is not an apple to apple comparison as PHP is a programming language and Node.js is a JavaScript-based run time environment. Yet, there is strong competition between both technologies.
PHP:
PHP is doing well in its own space. Most of the websites are built using PHP. It has been around for as long as Java or Python. However, the best reason to use PHP is its inexpensive web hosting as the result, it is cheaper to build backend applications using PHP. It is popular for building e-commerce websites, and content management systems. Frameworks like Laravel and CodeIgniter help in quicker development at low costs.
Advantages:
· There are many PHP specialists
· PHP is compatible with many databases like MySQL, MS SQL Server, PostgreSQL, SQLite, NoSQLs like MongoDB,
· Enables easy third-party integrations
· Cheaper to host and deploy
· Offers great cross-platform functionality
· Supports building large scale applications
Disadvantages:
· Aging language
· Lack of the latest libraries as compared to Python or Java which can be used for ML, AI, data science, etc.
· Vulnerable to security issues
Node.js
Node.js is an open-source JavaScript run-time environment that can help build web applications at an amazing speed. Node.js is popular for building chat applications, video streaming websites, etc.
Advantages:
· Easy to code as either JavaScript or its frameworks are used to develop the front-end and backend of the applications.
· Node.js frameworks like Express.js can be used to expedite the process of web application development.
· Node.js is especially popular for its asynchronous programming. Meaning, its non-blocking server requests use single thread requests. Blocking requests refer to halting the other operations from performing when one request is being executed. On the contrary, Node.js’ asynchronous server requests enable the execution of all requests at the same time, like sending emails, reading files, database connections, etc.
· Great community support.
· Ideal for data-streaming websites.
Disadvantages:
· Not ideal to build big applications
· Not easily compatible with RDBMS. Compatible with NoSQL database, MongoDB.
Now, let’s compare PHP vs Node.js
Coding Speed: PHP is easier to code, but when it comes to complex and efficient programming, Node.js provides sustainable output.
Performance: Node.js applications are faster as PHP takes longer to load.
Popularity: PHP has been around for longer and more popular than Node.js
Community Support: It is likely a draw.
Extensibility: Being a JavaScript-based platform, Node.js shows greater integration with third-party tools. More so with Node.js’ node package manager that has over 65,000 packages to support various functionalities.
Development cost: As one full-stack developer can build the entire web application with Node.js, a PHP application needs more manpower for frontend and backend development. Hence, for development costs, Node.js seems to be the winner.
Conclusion:
PHP and Node.js are used for different variety of web applications. While PHP can be used for complex applications, Node.js is ideal for building single-page dynamic websites.
CMS and eCommerce websites can be easily handled by PHP. On the other hand, chat applications and video streaming websites like Netflix are built using Node.js.
If you are unsure of which technology to use for your web application development, contact us for more information.
I'll be back! And so PHP drove a car into the police station and destroyed the competition.
Ya… baby. PHP is back.
With 7. PHP is liquid metal terminator. Its 100% faster. So much that there is no more tangible benefit switching to node.js.
Then 7.4 is apparent even 30% faster than 7. You do the math.
But its messy… That's php 4. 7 comes with top notch frameworks like Yii2 and Laravel. That rock MVP out of the box.
It's not OOP.
Guess again… 7 has classes that even a JAVA programmer would feel at home.
It's like you thought you could blow PHP up just because you threw liquid nitrogen and smashed it t
I'll be back! And so PHP drove a car into the police station and destroyed the competition.
Ya… baby. PHP is back.
With 7. PHP is liquid metal terminator. Its 100% faster. So much that there is no more tangible benefit switching to node.js.
Then 7.4 is apparent even 30% faster than 7. You do the math.
But its messy… That's php 4. 7 comes with top notch frameworks like Yii2 and Laravel. That rock MVP out of the box.
It's not OOP.
Guess again… 7 has classes that even a JAVA programmer would feel at home.
It's like you thought you could blow PHP up just because you threw liquid nitrogen and smashed it to a million pieces.
PHP has an army of developers. It's not confusing with brackets. You wont be hitting packages.
But async?
Coming soon!
Go PHP.
Both are good and also it’s depend upon your requirement. First of all, know here comparison of PHP vs Node with best features:
we will look at some notable differences between the two.
1. Execution speed
Node.JS happens to be an asynchronous development environment that is very few in numbers. Being a significant differentiator, it provides an edge to Node.JS over other languages.
Since it is asynchronous, it implies that there is no need to wait for any module to be executed successfully before loading the subsequent one. This type of execution helps to lessen the downtime drastically for the we
Both are good and also it’s depend upon your requirement. First of all, know here comparison of PHP vs Node with best features:
we will look at some notable differences between the two.
1. Execution speed
Node.JS happens to be an asynchronous development environment that is very few in numbers. Being a significant differentiator, it provides an edge to Node.JS over other languages.
Since it is asynchronous, it implies that there is no need to wait for any module to be executed successfully before loading the subsequent one. This type of execution helps to lessen the downtime drastically for the web application and aids in making a remarkable user experience.
As most of the technologies and languages were introduced during the 90s, PHP functions on synchronicity. This implies that every function and module is implemented in the order as specified by the code. If one module or function isn’t executed, the consequential ones will not commence until it is finished.
Therefore, go for Node.JS if you are on the lookout for a back-end technology that helps make your app faster.
2. Database
Node.JS is well-synchronized with all types of databases since it has developed with the arrival of NoSQL databases.
JavaScript Object Notation, which happens to be an exclusive data format employed while interacting with databases, will work seamlessly with MongoDB, CouchDB, and other NoSQL databases. Graph databases are also supported by it, and it comes with substantial libraries for accessing SQL databases.
Being the older technology, PHP has been designed to work with conventional and relational databases such as MariaDB and MySQL. Although it is feasible to import libraries for working with NoSQL databases, it happens to be a tedious process that consumes a huge amount of processing time.
In a nutshell, if you are planning to go for a scalable web app that will pull information frequently from relational, conventional, or NoSQL databases, you should go for NodeJS.
3. Hosting
Nodejs comes with quite a few alternatives that allow it to perform competitively. A SmartOS system has been provided by Joyent, the company responsible for maintaining it. This is fantastic for performance enhancement, simplicity of deployment, and debugging.
Approximately 80% of the Internet is powered by PHP at present, either directly or indirectly. It has been designed to work with almost every notable hosting service provider thanks to its imposing reach. It helps to satisfy the demands of many servers with the help of its LAMP stack. Nevertheless, LAMP is not considered to be a safe technology stack when it comes to hosting.
In a nutshell, PHP undoubtedly has greater compatibility with hosting service providers. Nevertheless, it will be possible for you to go for either platform freely for your subsequent app development project if security is not a significant concern to you.
4. Ecosystem
The NodeJS ecosystem comes with an extensive range of frameworks and libraries; however, they lag much behind the number of frameworks and libraries of PHP. Nevertheless, although it lacks in quantity, it counterbalances it with its wide variety of projects.
It is used for server-side and back-end programming, and therefore, the project types that are available range freely while fitting into a greater number of use cases.
WordPress has made a significant contribution to the PHP ecosystem. It helps to run many websites at present, and nothing else showcases the godlike reach of PHP quite like this.
Apart from this, many training materials plus supported technology have been developed by the PHP community during the last several years to bring new developers on board.
It will be essential to note that PHP comes with a bigger ecosystem, while NodeJS features a richer ecosystem with more variety for frameworks, projects, and modules.
When should you use PHP, and when should you be using Nodejs?
While choosing between PHP and Nodejs will be imperative to figure out the features required by your web project.
With its simplicity of development and performance advantages, it will be best to make use of NodeJS for building:
• A dynamic single-page app
• Real-time apps like Instant messengers
• While using front end technologies such as Angular and React
On the contrary, PHP will be appropriate for:
• An e-commerce website or blog with CMS
• With LAMP stack
• While you require prioritizing the use of integration and deployment
If you want to explore more with Pros and Cons of PHP and NodeJS then just click into it….
The best one is the one you know. If you know PHP, then it is the better option.
As for getting tutorials and such, Node.JS is probably the better one.
If this is your first language, simply flip a coin, seriously. You can also do some tutorials for 3–4 days on each and you should be quick to see which one better suits you.
If you pick PHP, I recommend learning it a little bit, then learn something like CakePHP.
The Node tutorials will help you quite a bit.
Just start with the basics. Don’t go into GraphQL or something like that right away. It is simply too much at one time and you will simply give
The best one is the one you know. If you know PHP, then it is the better option.
As for getting tutorials and such, Node.JS is probably the better one.
If this is your first language, simply flip a coin, seriously. You can also do some tutorials for 3–4 days on each and you should be quick to see which one better suits you.
If you pick PHP, I recommend learning it a little bit, then learn something like CakePHP.
The Node tutorials will help you quite a bit.
Just start with the basics. Don’t go into GraphQL or something like that right away. It is simply too much at one time and you will simply give up or not understand the basics enough.
People seem to often forget programming languages are tools, and it doesn’t exist “the one tool to rule them all” yet (i doubt it will ever exists though).
Which tool is better to nail two pieces of wood together, a cutter or hammer and nails?
And which tool is better to cut a piece of paper?
As you can see different tools do diferent tasks. A good programmer is not one which has one tool in its toolbox and uses it for everything, a good programmer is one with a diverse toolbox and he knows which tool to use for each task.
Analyze your team’s skills (Language X is not a great choice if your team
People seem to often forget programming languages are tools, and it doesn’t exist “the one tool to rule them all” yet (i doubt it will ever exists though).
Which tool is better to nail two pieces of wood together, a cutter or hammer and nails?
And which tool is better to cut a piece of paper?
As you can see different tools do diferent tasks. A good programmer is not one which has one tool in its toolbox and uses it for everything, a good programmer is one with a diverse toolbox and he knows which tool to use for each task.
Analyze your team’s skills (Language X is not a great choice if your team only knows Language Y), the environment where the backend will have to be released, and what things a certain language has to offer that help you with your task.
For example i work on a personal project using a PHP backend because it has to be deployed on a server with apache and it needs to handle a lot of data with variable structure (which is not easy to handle on Java, at least until the most recent versions), since i’m more skilled in PHP than Node, i decided to use PHP (Symfony). In this project there will be a real time part (chat and notifications) and i haven’t decided yet if i’m going to use Socket.IO (node) or ratchet (PHP).
At work i’m on a fairly big business project that has to be deployed on the cloud and our backend team is skilled in Java. Therefore We chose Java (Spring) as a backend and a microservices structure.
If my next project will be a medium-to-big application with a lot of real time features (such as chat, various kind of messaging and so on) i’ll probably use Node.js
There is no comparison of using php and node.js. Because of following reasons.
- PHP is flexible and light weighted technology.
- In PHP almost 80% companies working.
- Job opportunity is good in PHP.
- Easy to learn, easy to do any thing easily.
- Save time and energy.
- Stress free language for Developers.
- Price wise it is not expensive for any Client.
- Easy to install and work in Window, linux, macbook etc.
- New technology comes and goes. Work on Stable technology like PHP. Good for Developers to make a carrier. Good for Clients too. If any other developer wants to work on your un-complete work or add new feature
There is no comparison of using php and node.js. Because of following reasons.
- PHP is flexible and light weighted technology.
- In PHP almost 80% companies working.
- Job opportunity is good in PHP.
- Easy to learn, easy to do any thing easily.
- Save time and energy.
- Stress free language for Developers.
- Price wise it is not expensive for any Client.
- Easy to install and work in Window, linux, macbook etc.
- New technology comes and goes. Work on Stable technology like PHP. Good for Developers to make a carrier. Good for Clients too. If any other developer wants to work on your un-complete work or add new features. it, you can easily find another developer to do your task.
- Taking backup and host anywhere is easy.
- Servers are easily available in low cost too.
- Every payment gateway, any other service providers made APIs in PHP. Just plug and play.
- In Security, many few peoples know standard protocols, that need to guide and implement. Many other features are there, so keep you mind cool and do coding with FUN with PHP
Nodejs.
I have worked with PHP 7, but now I’m working with Node.js
Node:
- Single thread - its big pros, if you know how need to work with it.
- Async. Many languages have optional async feature, but Node has main.
- Server rendering. Its unique feature, no one language (PHP, JAVA), doesn’t have this feature. Reactjs, Angular and other Javascript code for frontend Nodejs can render in to server. The best option for SEO and website benchmark.
- Javascript. For frontend and backend you can learn only one language.
- A lot of jobs with Nodejs.
P.s. How about PHP? Than better choice Python.
Node js:
Scalable network applications can be created using Node.js, an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment that uses the V8 engine and executes JavaScript code outside a web browser. Developers can use JavaScript to create command-line tools and for server-side scripting, which produces dynamic web page content on the server before the page is transmitted to the user's web browser. As a result, Node.js symbolizes a "JavaScript everywhere" paradigm, uniting the creation of online applications around a single programming language instead of separate languages for server-si
Node js:
Scalable network applications can be created using Node.js, an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment that uses the V8 engine and executes JavaScript code outside a web browser. Developers can use JavaScript to create command-line tools and for server-side scripting, which produces dynamic web page content on the server before the page is transmitted to the user's web browser. As a result, Node.js symbolizes a "JavaScript everywhere" paradigm, uniting the creation of online applications around a single programming language instead of separate languages for server-side and client-side scripts.
The event-driven design of Node.js supports asynchronous I/O. These design decisions maximize performance and scalability for real-time web applications with numerous input/output activities (e.g., real-time communication programs and browser games).
Numerous Node.js fundamental modules are developed in JavaScript. Most real-time server applications are run on Node.js.
Its official documentation provides the following definition:
Node.js is a framework for creating quick and scalable network applications based on Chrome's JavaScript runtime. Node.js is lightweight and efficient, making it ideal for data-intensive real-time applications that operate across dispersed devices. It uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O approach.
Node.js also offers a comprehensive library of different JavaScript modules to make the process of creating web apps simpler.
Runtime Environment + JavaScript Library = Node.js
PHP:
A general-purpose programming language designed specifically for web development in PHP. Rasmus Lerdorf, a Danish-Canadian programmer, first developed it in 1994. The PHP Group now creates the PHP reference implementation. Personal Home Page was the first meaning of PHP. However, it is now used to refer to recursive initialism. Hypertext Preprocessor: PHP
A PHP interpreter, which can be implemented as a module, daemon, or Common Gateway Interface (CGI) executable, typically processes PHP code on a web server. The output of PHP code that has been interpreted and performed on a web server could be any data, including produced HTML or binary image data, making up all or a portion of an HTTP response. Numerous web frameworks, online content management systems, and web template systems can be used to organize or make the development of that answer easier. In addition, PHP may be used for a wide range of programming activities outside the context of the web, including the control of robotic drones and standalone graphical apps. Additionally, the command line can be used to execute PHP code directly.
Which is simpler to learn, PHP or Node JS?
The Node.js vs. PHP comparison provides numbers for yet another subject. Since PHP is a language and Node.js is an environment/framework, comparing the two is challenging. While some claim that PHP is the most straightforward language available, Node.js requires almost little learning time for web developers since, regardless of the back-end development tool they use, all web developers should be conversant with JavaScript. There isn't a winner in the end. But both of them are simple to learn.
Both are good and both can help you make a good money. I use php (most often) and I use NodeJs as well. NodeJs is way too big for smaller projects. If I have to develop a simple CMS in Node, first I will have to create lots of APIs (e.g., post, page, users, and so on) depending upon the requirements. Then, I will have to use a front-end library (I use ReactJs) to display content and perform CRUD operations at various endpoints (post, users, pages, and more). Though this is fun to do, I can create the same CMS using PHP, MySQL (or MongoDB), HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and Bootstrap in less time than
Both are good and both can help you make a good money. I use php (most often) and I use NodeJs as well. NodeJs is way too big for smaller projects. If I have to develop a simple CMS in Node, first I will have to create lots of APIs (e.g., post, page, users, and so on) depending upon the requirements. Then, I will have to use a front-end library (I use ReactJs) to display content and perform CRUD operations at various endpoints (post, users, pages, and more). Though this is fun to do, I can create the same CMS using PHP, MySQL (or MongoDB), HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and Bootstrap in less time than NodeJs.
Other Cons of NodeJS
- Learning Curve for NodeJs ecosystem is big!
- You will need to learn frontend library as well
- you will need to make sure that node update will not break your application. same goes for react (or frontend library you will use).
However I’m not saying NodeJs is bad. It is super fast, scalable, and secure but it can be real tough as starting point but with time, you will be feeling more comfortable working with it.
I am comfortable working with NodeJs and this was my experience with NodeJs as a starter.
PHP:
it’s simple and yet powerful. Also, due to popularity, I can’t see it fading away in near future. You can develop great tools with it.
After all, a programming language is only as good as the developer using it so don’t worry if someone says JavaScript is better than PHP or vice-versa. I love PHP and JavaScript (in fact, I make a good living with these languages). So get over the idea of which programming language is best and by all means ignore people who says “I hate XYZ programming language”. Instead, focus on becoming a proficient at one language (and/or it’s related framework) and I assure you, your journey to greatness will be very adventurous!
Happy coding and programming.
I hope this helps someone!
TL;RD : Use Node.JS
Details
It totally depends on a couple of factors:
- What type of back end do you want? Will you be expecting a lot of traffic and high concurrency? Will you be making a lot of DB calls? etc..
- What are you comfortable with?
PHP is very good! With frameworks like Laravel - The PHP Framework For Web Artisans, and the new release of PHP 7, the community is really pushing forward in the right direction. Making the lives of us PHP developers real easy. With projects like Composer, allowing the community to collaborate with open sourced libraries, things are getting easier while develo
TL;RD : Use Node.JS
Details
It totally depends on a couple of factors:
- What type of back end do you want? Will you be expecting a lot of traffic and high concurrency? Will you be making a lot of DB calls? etc..
- What are you comfortable with?
PHP is very good! With frameworks like Laravel - The PHP Framework For Web Artisans, and the new release of PHP 7, the community is really pushing forward in the right direction. Making the lives of us PHP developers real easy. With projects like Composer, allowing the community to collaborate with open sourced libraries, things are getting easier while developing PHP.
But, there's a catch! PHP is synchronous at its core! Which means that it waits for the response from every call you do.
Here's an example:
So, lets say that you want to log something in a database or file [logging is a must! right?]. Logging is important, but not critical. There's no point in waiting for the response, that your data has been logged. Because it is plain pointless! But, PHP does that.
And PHP sucks at scale! You'll have to do a lot of hacks, configs and optimizations to make PHP work on a big scale.. [I think Facebook can vouch for that! :P]
That's where Node.js comes in. It performs beautifully at scale, it is asynchronous and super easy to develop. There's NPM - npm that lets you collaborate with libraries and boy! There's a library for every damn thing one can imagine!
So, in that logging example that I just said, you can fire the log and forget about it. And your code would move on as if nothing happened! That's the beauty of Async Programming! Because of Async, Node scales beautifully without any effort!
Also, Node is being accepted by lots of companies! [Companies Using Node.js | Modulus Platform]
I would say, use Node.js and don't worry about stuff like scaling, speed and performance. Concentrate on your app/business logic and leave the heavy lifting to Node!
But, beware of callback hell, though!
Happy Coding! :)
There are some tasks for which Node.js and JavaScript perform better, for example, some low-latency APIs. PHP isn’t the best fit for this precise task, however, learning PHP is easier compared to Node.js since in the latter case you will have to learn asynchronous programming.
So, being completely separated from the context, your question sounds like “what is better - a screwdriver or a hammer?”. Most likely, when you need to tighten a bolt, it is better to use a screwdriver. But if you need to hammer in a nail, obviously you need a hammer. So, both Node.js and PHP are the tools you are welcome
There are some tasks for which Node.js and JavaScript perform better, for example, some low-latency APIs. PHP isn’t the best fit for this precise task, however, learning PHP is easier compared to Node.js since in the latter case you will have to learn asynchronous programming.
So, being completely separated from the context, your question sounds like “what is better - a screwdriver or a hammer?”. Most likely, when you need to tighten a bolt, it is better to use a screwdriver. But if you need to hammer in a nail, obviously you need a hammer. So, both Node.js and PHP are the tools you are welcome to use depending on the task.
Node.js.
Tim Mensch's answer to Is it best to switch to Node.js from PHP?
That answer was written over two years ago, and the arguments are still valid today. In fact, if you look at PyPL
, PHP is dropping like a stone while JavaScript holds steady, and TypeScript (which I recommend that people use with Node.js) has gone from zero to nearly 25% of JavaScript in just two years.PHP fell from being the second most popular to below JavaScript just this year, and looking at the graph it shows no signs of slowing yet.
The StackOverflow survey already puts JavaScript as the most popular language.
AndFootnotes
Node.js.
Tim Mensch's answer to Is it best to switch to Node.js from PHP?
That answer was written over two years ago, and the arguments are still valid today. In fact, if you look at PyPL
, PHP is dropping like a stone while JavaScript holds steady, and TypeScript (which I recommend that people use with Node.js) has gone from zero to nearly 25% of JavaScript in just two years.PHP fell from being the second most popular to below JavaScript just this year, and looking at the graph it shows no signs of slowing yet.
The StackOverflow survey already puts JavaScript as the most popular language.
And the results also show that way more people like using TypeScript or JavaScript than PHP. (67%, 62%, and 42%, respectively.)Node.js is JavaScript or TypeScript running on a server (an earlier, now collapsed, answer claimed that somehow Node.js ran in the browser, which is 100% incorrect). It's faster, it's more scalable, and it's designed throughout to be secure by default.
While it may be possible to write secure code on PHP, it actually takes more of an expert to do so, and you'll be hampered by the available libraries and frameworks that also are riddled with security problems.
So in two years, my answer hasn't changed. Read the original answer
if you want to see the raw details. I was pretty brutal.Footnotes
The question should be Which One is Better for Your App?
The point you need to consider as to which framework to choose is to determine the kind of application you need to develop. Both Node.js and PHP have their pros and cons. Node.js is new compared to PHP and so it will definitely have some functionalities which are not present in PHP like asynchronous and event-based architecture. This makes it suitable for real-time applications in which many requests take place concurrently.
Node.js is also perfect for application which involve dynamic, highly flexible, and heavy client-side functionality.
The question should be Which One is Better for Your App?
The point you need to consider as to which framework to choose is to determine the kind of application you need to develop. Both Node.js and PHP have their pros and cons. Node.js is new compared to PHP and so it will definitely have some functionalities which are not present in PHP like asynchronous and event-based architecture. This makes it suitable for real-time applications in which many requests take place concurrently.
Node.js is also perfect for application which involve dynamic, highly flexible, and heavy client-side functionality.
In its turn, PHP is a good choice for a standardised solution such as a blog, news site, landing page or web portal. With such CMS (Content Management System) as WordPress written in PHP, you can create stable and customisable blogs without too much coding. If you need more customisation, WordPress provides a well-documented API to change application’s structure, presentation, plugins, etc.
So, when choosing between Node.js and PHP, you should definitely consider what type of application you are going to build, what are the hosting requirements of your client, and what is the speed of development.
A small correction:
Node.js is not a language, it’s a JavaScript run-time environment
Language is a set of instructions (code) that you write to produce the output.
For Node.js you can use JavaScript or any other language that can be transcompiled into it:
- TypeScript
- CoffeeScript
- Dart
Run-time environment is the system that executes the code in a specific way.
Some other runtime environments:
- JRE (Java Runtime Environment)
- CLR (Common Language Runtime) for .NET framework
I would say that it depends. I think both are equally good for backend. PHP has matured as well starting from version 5+ and now they have almost all features you find or want in any programming language. NodeJs on the other hand is younger compared to PHP but since you get to write JS on both front end and backend, lots of developer love that idea. The switch was easy and so on. The reason I am bringing those are because of that and so many other great reasons. you are likely to find all sort of frameworks, libraries and utilities for nodejs. Php also does have decent amount of community cont
I would say that it depends. I think both are equally good for backend. PHP has matured as well starting from version 5+ and now they have almost all features you find or want in any programming language. NodeJs on the other hand is younger compared to PHP but since you get to write JS on both front end and backend, lots of developer love that idea. The switch was easy and so on. The reason I am bringing those are because of that and so many other great reasons. you are likely to find all sort of frameworks, libraries and utilities for nodejs. Php also does have decent amount of community contributed packages.
I would choose one versus other depending on 1. Interest , 2. Learning curve, 3. Is it just me or team ? What’s the expertise level of team if team based development and 4. Do I already have all infra available for one or another for deployment.
Node.js triumphs over PHP in a performance comparison because it is faster and provides a more fluid and concurrent experience for both developers and end users.
Due to its exclusive focus on back-end development, PHP's application use-cases are relatively constrained. The LAMP stack, which stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python, technically includes it. Therefore, in addition to being adept at using CSS and HTML, you also need to be adept at setting and approaching various systems if you want to test, create, manage, or even design a functional web project (otherwise, you will ne
Node.js triumphs over PHP in a performance comparison because it is faster and provides a more fluid and concurrent experience for both developers and end users.
Due to its exclusive focus on back-end development, PHP's application use-cases are relatively constrained. The LAMP stack, which stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python, technically includes it. Therefore, in addition to being adept at using CSS and HTML, you also need to be adept at setting and approaching various systems if you want to test, create, manage, or even design a functional web project (otherwise, you will need to hire a team to handle the other areas). The possibility of having to manage unusual systems greatly increases the learning curve's complexity.
Despite the aforementioned problems, PHP is always evolving as developers constantly think of new ways to enhance its features and functionality.
Node.js has a definite benefit over PHP, it combines some of the necessary functionality under the guise of a single seamless package with zero functionality fragmentation.
You can create entire backend models using Node.js, but you'll also need a database like MySQL, an HTTP framework like Express.js, and a reverse proxy like Nginx or Apache. However, JavaScript is a full-stack programming language and can create a web or mobile application by itself.
Most web developers find that writing code in PHP is faster since it has better usability. Good PHP programmers can write code much more quickly than Node.js programmers. This is primarily due to the lack of a requirement for compilers or converters. PHP gives you the freedom to connect to your SQL database without being constrained by hosting conditions. However, there is a trade-off: PHP projects don't run as quickly as Node.js ones.
PHP was an outstanding technology in its days. Its success and popularity came from:
- Its ease of learning and use
- cheap and straightforward hosting mostly shared LAMP
- Abundance of open-source scripts, apps and libraries
At the same time, these same things now led to its dusk. The contributions to the core from beginner programmers metamorphosed API inconsistently while the lack of OOP/classes and module management systems inhibited open-source community growth. Absence of a leading framework (Ruby on Rails comes to mind as an example of a single dominance) or a paradigm that also helped to produ
PHP was an outstanding technology in its days. Its success and popularity came from:
- Its ease of learning and use
- cheap and straightforward hosting mostly shared LAMP
- Abundance of open-source scripts, apps and libraries
At the same time, these same things now led to its dusk. The contributions to the core from beginner programmers metamorphosed API inconsistently while the lack of OOP/classes and module management systems inhibited open-source community growth. Absence of a leading framework (Ruby on Rails comes to mind as an example of a single dominance) or a paradigm that also helped to produce a lot of bad code that relied heavily on mixing PHP and HTML code without any MVC-ishness. On the other hand, there are a lot of good products and infrastructure for PHP that are here to stay.
Node.js is relatively young with only three years since its first commit, but it’s already the fastest growing platform by the pace of contributions (the absolute number will surpass other languages in a few years). The fact that JavaScript language is the most popular language in the world and has the biggest run-time internment of course attributed to that. Many tools are ported to Node.js with small or no modification from the browser environment.
Where PHP wins: Mixing code with content?
You're typing along, pouring thoughts into text for your website, and you want to add a branch to the process, a little if-then statement to make it look pretty, say, depending on some parameter in the URL. Or maybe you want to mix in text or data from a database. With PHP, you open up the magic PHP tags and start writing code within seconds. No need for templates -- everything is a template! No need for extra files or elaborate architectures, just programmable logistical power at your fingertips.
Where Node wins: Separating concerns?
Mixing code with content is a crutch that can end up crippling you. Sure, it's fun to mix code in with HTML the first two or three times you do it. But soon your code base becomes a tangled mess of logic. Real programmers add structure and separate the cosmetic layer from the logical layer. It's cleaner for new programmers to understand and easier to maintain. The frameworks running on Node.js are built by programmers who know that life is better when the model, view, and controller are separate.
Where PHP wins: Deep code base?
The Web is filled with PHP code. The most popular platforms for building websites (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla) are written in PHP. Not only are the platforms open source, but so are most of their plug-ins. There's PHP code everywhere, and it's waiting for you to download it, modify it, and use it for your needs.
Where Node wins: Newer code means more modern features?
Sure, there are thousands of great open source PHP files, but some are 8-year-old WordPress plug-ins hoping and praying that someone will download them. Who wants to spend hours, days, or weeks monkeying with code that hasn’t been updated in years? Node.js plug-ins are not only newer; they were built with full knowledge of the latest architectural approaches. They were built by programmers who understand that modern Web apps should push most of the intelligence to the client.
Where PHP wins: Simplicity (sort of)?
There's not much to PHP: a few variables and basic functions for juggling strings and numbers. It's a thin layer that doesn't do much except move the data from port 80 to the database and back. That's what it's supposed to do. A modern database is a magical tool, and it makes sense to leave the heavy lifting to it. PHP is the right amount of complexity for a job that's not supposed to be complex.
Where Node wins: Complexity of closures and more?
JavaScript may have many little idiosyncrasies that drive some mad, but for the most part it is a modern language that sports a modern syntax and a few useful features like closures. You can reconfigure and extend it easily, making powerful libraries like jQuery possible. You can pass functions around like objects. Why limit yourself?
Where PHP wins: No client app needed?
All of the talk about using the same language in the browser and on the server is nice, but what if you don't need to use any language on the browser? What if you ship the data in HTML form? The browser pops it up, and there are no headaches or glitches caused by misfiring JavaScript threads that try to create a page on the browser from two dozen Web service calls. Pure HTML works more often than anything else, and PHP is optimized to create that. Why bother with JavaScript on the browser? Build up everything on the server and avoid overloading that little browser on the little phone.
Where Node wins: Service calls are thinner than HTML-fat PHP calls?
While AJAX-crazy HTML5 Web apps can have too many moving parts, they are cool -- and very efficient. Once the JavaScript code is in the browser cache, the only thing that moves along the wires is the new data. There's not a ton of HTML markup, and there are no repeated trips to download the entire page. Only the data has changed. If you're willing to put in the time to create a slick browser-side Web app, there's a big payoff. Node.js is optimized to deliver the data and only the data through Web services. If your app is complex and data-rich, it's a good foundation for efficient delivery.
Where PHP wins: SQL?
PHP was built to co-exist with MySQL and its many variants, like MariaDB. If MySQL isn't exactly right, there are other great SQL databases from Oracle and Microsoft. Your code can switch with a few changes to your queries. The vast SQL world doesn’t end at its borders. Some of the most stable, well-developed code will interface with an SQL database, meaning all that power can also be easily integrated into a PHP project. It may not be one perfect, happy family, but it's a big one.
Where Node.js wins: JSON?
If you must have access to SQL, Node.js has libraries to do that. But Node.js also speaks JSON, the lingua franca for interacting with many of the latest NoSQL databases. That’s not to say you can’t get JSON libraries for your PHP stack, but there's something fluid about the simplicity of working with JSON when using JavaScript. It's one syntax from browser to Web server to database. The colons and the curly brackets work the same way everywhere. That alone will save you from hours of frustration.
Where PHP wins: Speed of coding?
For most developers, writing PHP for Web apps feels faster: no compilers, no deployment, no JAR files or preprocessors -- just your favorite editor and some PHP files in a directory. Your mileage will vary, but when it comes to banging a project together quickly, PHP is a good tool to use.
Where Node.js wins: Raw speed?
Writing JavaScript code is a bit harder when you're counting curly brackets and parentheses, but when it's done, your Node.js code can fly. The callback mechanism is brilliant because it saves you from juggling the threads. The core is well-built and designed to do all that for you. Isn't that what everyone wants?
It's difficult to say which one is better, Node.js or PHP, as it depends on the specific requirements of your project and your personal preferences. Both Node.js and PHP are powerful server-side technologies that can be used to build robust web applications. Here are some factors to consider when choosing between the two:
- Performance: Node.js is generally considered to be faster and more efficient than PHP, especially for handling real-time data and for handling many concurrent connections.
- Scalability: Node.js is well-suited for building scalable applications due to its non-blocking I/O model a
It's difficult to say which one is better, Node.js or PHP, as it depends on the specific requirements of your project and your personal preferences. Both Node.js and PHP are powerful server-side technologies that can be used to build robust web applications. Here are some factors to consider when choosing between the two:
- Performance: Node.js is generally considered to be faster and more efficient than PHP, especially for handling real-time data and for handling many concurrent connections.
- Scalability: Node.js is well-suited for building scalable applications due to its non-blocking I/O model and event-driven architecture.
- Ecosystem: Both Node.js and PHP have large and active ecosystems with many third-party libraries and frameworks available. Node.js has a strong focus on modern web development and is often used in conjunction with front-end JavaScript frameworks, while PHP has a wider range of applications and can be used for both web development and general-purpose programming.
- Learning curve: If you are already familiar with JavaScript, then learning Node.js may be easier for you than learning PHP. However, if you are more comfortable with a traditional syntax, then PHP may be a better choice.
- Community: Both Node.js and PHP have large and active communities with many resources available for learning and support.
In conclusion, Node.js and PHP are both powerful server-side technologies that can be used to build robust web applications. Ultimately, the choice between Node.js and PHP will depend on your specific requirements, experience, and personal preferences.
Depends on what you mean by best. Best performance, best ease of use, best community support, best libraries and frameworks, etc.
I will say this: Node sucks (https://medium.com/javascript-non-grata/the-fall-of-the-house-of-node-43697fd56a6). A better solution than either Node or PHP may be Go.
PHP is specifically designed for backend web development. If you need to build a web service API I recommend the Slim Framework, and if you need to have your API access a database such as MySQL then I recommend Willow.
Both Node.js and PHP have their own strengths and weaknesses, and the choice between them ultimately depends on the specific needs and requirements of your project.
Node.js is a server-side JavaScript runtime that allows you to build scalable, high-performance, and event-driven applications. It is particularly well-suited for real-time applications that require fast and efficient data transfer, such as chat applications, gaming platforms, and social networking sites.
PHP is a server-side scripting language that has been widely used for building dynamic web applications. It has a large user commu
Both Node.js and PHP have their own strengths and weaknesses, and the choice between them ultimately depends on the specific needs and requirements of your project.
Node.js is a server-side JavaScript runtime that allows you to build scalable, high-performance, and event-driven applications. It is particularly well-suited for real-time applications that require fast and efficient data transfer, such as chat applications, gaming platforms, and social networking sites.
PHP is a server-side scripting language that has been widely used for building dynamic web applications. It has a large user community and a vast ecosystem of frameworks and libraries that make it easy to build complex applications quickly. PHP is also known for its compatibility with different databases and operating systems.
In terms of performance, Node.js has an edge over PHP in terms of handling large numbers of concurrent connections and data-intensive tasks. However, PHP is still a popular choice for web development, especially for building content-based websites and blogs.
Ultimately, the decision between Node.js and PHP will depend on your specific project requirements, your team's expertise, and your personal preferences. Both technologies have their strengths and can be used to build high-quality applications, so it's important to evaluate your options carefully before making a decision.
Depends on the requirements. Node is event based, good for programming realtime apps.
In your case I would use both. Node for the realtime chat part and PHP for the rest.
You can use Redis or MongoDB for persisting session and communication between PHP and Node.
It mostly depends on your background and favorites but if you come neither from PHP nor Node.js, PHP seems a better option because:
- It’s used by developers over 20 years
- Many “web backend related” libraries
- More documentation
- Big community
- Faster if you use PHP 7.0 and newer versions
Both are good options. Most of my work is in PHP but I have written apps for Node.js too (and hybrid PHP/Node.js apps). I'd say go with what you know.
The one area I would really recommend Node.js for is websockets programming. It is possible in PHP but it's so much easier and more reliable in Node.js that it's worth the overhead of learning it for that reason.
One of the advantages of learning Node.js is that you would be learning JavaScript which would help you write for the front-end.
The disadvantage of learning Node.js is the ecosystem moves very quickly which can make it hard for beginners.
I would recommend picking a Node.js stack if you’re going to learn it. Find a blog-post outlining the best Node.js utilities to use and stick with those until you feel comfortable branching out.
I prefer PHP. Node.js’ async suffers from the What color is your function problem.
PHP’s dependency package manager composer is better than NPM in my opinion.
With PHP today, and its eco system, you can do a huge number of request per second while avoiding the dependency mess of Node.js and what color is your function problems which Node.js suffers.
With 20+ years of PHP experience I can safely say it is Node.js for me. I have built out my full server engine and it’s a beast capable of solving any kind of website in a week at most. It took me two weeks to duplicate Facebook in PHP, and I just can’t abide that sort of time lag. I’m too lazy to be writing PHP code all the time. If you take a look at a commit (that one adds support for file uploads by including Busboy in my NPM package, among a few dozen other easy changes) you’ll see that writing Node is considerably different than writing PHP. Why?
PHP is a scripting language. It does have
With 20+ years of PHP experience I can safely say it is Node.js for me. I have built out my full server engine and it’s a beast capable of solving any kind of website in a week at most. It took me two weeks to duplicate Facebook in PHP, and I just can’t abide that sort of time lag. I’m too lazy to be writing PHP code all the time. If you take a look at a commit (that one adds support for file uploads by including Busboy in my NPM package, among a few dozen other easy changes) you’ll see that writing Node is considerably different than writing PHP. Why?
PHP is a scripting language. It does have object-oriented support, but it’s not well supported and it’s more of an addon than a central architecture. Now, that’s fine, it’s a pretty good solution for webpages. Domain Specific Languages or DSLs are obviously highly effective at controlling the applications they were designed for, and PHP is designed for web processing, usually the manipulation of text.
But we’re past the days when the web was mainly a text processor. Now it is mainly a database, which means an object oriented structure is preferable. If you’re still doing text processing for some arcane reason, you should go ahead and do it in whatever language you want, but then put it in a database, and use Node to take it back out.
My webserver (“Senwebnode” on sourceforge, the commit above) doesn’t even utilize the extremely optimal single threaded response architecture in Node. It completely works around it, becoming multithreaded with a few minor tiny tricks. So the people saying that the threading of Node is an issue are very misinformed.
PHP will take a while and stick around like a teacher who has been bypassed by its protege. We’ll always think lovingly back on the days of PHP, and it will still be a useful tool for some time to come, but Node is clearly a Successor.
Choosing between PHP and Node.js for backend development depends on your preferences and project requirements.
If you prefer a language with a long history in web development, consider PHP. It's widely used and has a large community. WordPress, a popular content management system, is built with PHP.
If you prefer a more modern and JavaScript-based approach, go for Node.js. It allows you to use the same language (JavaScript) for both frontend and backend development, streamlining your workflow.
Ultimately, the "best" language depends on your comfort, project needs, and the ecosystem you want to wo
Choosing between PHP and Node.js for backend development depends on your preferences and project requirements.
If you prefer a language with a long history in web development, consider PHP. It's widely used and has a large community. WordPress, a popular content management system, is built with PHP.
If you prefer a more modern and JavaScript-based approach, go for Node.js. It allows you to use the same language (JavaScript) for both frontend and backend development, streamlining your workflow.
Ultimately, the "best" language depends on your comfort, project needs, and the ecosystem you want to work in.
I’d go with whichever you know better. It wouldn’t bother with learning a new language because in some way the other language is better. Both can get good page loads, both can be developed quickly, and both can be screwed up by sloppy programming.
So for me the answer is PHP. I still use Node (specifically NPM) with it all of the time.
Unless your website catches fire in a massive way, the honest answer is it probably doesn’t matter which one it’s built on. If it does catch fire in a massive way, I would want whichever one I could get smart help nearby with easier. For me that is still PHP. I he
I’d go with whichever you know better. It wouldn’t bother with learning a new language because in some way the other language is better. Both can get good page loads, both can be developed quickly, and both can be screwed up by sloppy programming.
So for me the answer is PHP. I still use Node (specifically NPM) with it all of the time.
Unless your website catches fire in a massive way, the honest answer is it probably doesn’t matter which one it’s built on. If it does catch fire in a massive way, I would want whichever one I could get smart help nearby with easier. For me that is still PHP. I hear a lot of cities, there is a much larger Node community.
Reading through what you are trying to do, my first choice would be Node.js. It works brilliantly for chat sessions. But again, given the size of the project and the remaining features, I would suggest going with what you know and stick to PHP.
You will find a lot of libraries for PHP which would let you accomplish many of the tasks. Just plug and play.
Neither, you should learn C#/.NET (ASP is included) or Java.
Both are good. PHP and Node.js are the two most well-known technologies that developers can use for server-side development. Even though both these techniques are employed for identical purposes, they are used in different ways.
Now, you must comprehend who is performing well for chosen platforms and purposes to understand which one to go for, PHP or NodeJS in 2021. Thus, it will be possible to understand which one to go for by comparing these two technologies.
We will start with the fundamentals for getting everything clear from the very beginning. First, we will talk about the basics of PHP an
Both are good. PHP and Node.js are the two most well-known technologies that developers can use for server-side development. Even though both these techniques are employed for identical purposes, they are used in different ways.
Now, you must comprehend who is performing well for chosen platforms and purposes to understand which one to go for, PHP or NodeJS in 2021. Thus, it will be possible to understand which one to go for by comparing these two technologies.
We will start with the fundamentals for getting everything clear from the very beginning. First, we will talk about the basics of PHP and Node.js before comparing these 2. So, let us not waste time and go through this article from start to finish.
What exactly is Node.js?
Node.js, created and published by the reputed software engineer named Ryan Dahl in 2009, was initially compatible with only several selected OS like Mac OS X and Linux. At present, the latest version of Node.JS, 10.16.0, has been released.
Node.js happens to be amongst one of the most well-known and in-demand open-source back-end development environments, which have been written in C++, C#, plus JavaScript programming language, which has been built on the V8 JavaScript engine of Chrome. It is usually known to execute JavaScript runtime environment that executes JavaScript code outside the browser. Node JS web development experts can write command-line tools using JavaScript and create dynamic web page content by using server-side scripting. In short, it will be possible for you to develop a network application that is highly scalable by making use of Node.
Advantages provided by Node JS
Node JS supports multi-threading, which happens to be its most significant advantage. Even though the requirement for this is less when it comes to web development, it comes with high demands in the browser. You will come across lots of developers on the market preferring node.JS over PHP at all times.
The support for the server is built-in. Only one syntax will be required to function on the server of the website in node.JS. A full-stack developer’s work is reduced significantly due to this reusability feature. Due to module caching, it is only imperative for the feature to run any module call once, and following this, it will be obtainable for the subsequent code. It is an extremely difficult job to work with a large file, and node.JS comes with Stream Modules to make it simpler.
Learning node.JS is quite easy for any developer who is familiar with JavaScript.
What exactly is PHP?
PHP, designed by Rasmus Lerdorf and created by Zend Technologies, has been quite popular in the tech arena for over 20 years. Being introduced in 1995, it has turned out to be the biggest open-source server-side scripting language in the world. PHP happens to be the abbreviation for “PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor,” which has been designed for web development. The important thing is that it executes PHP code or scripts on the server.
Advantages provided by PHP
At present, you will come across some developers who give preference to PHP over Node.JS. Here, we have mentioned the reasons for doing so.
• Configuration of the development environment has become quite easy because of PHP.
• While using PHP, there is less need for the code line for any app than Node.JS.
• It is imperative for JS developers to learn blocking statements and callback functions as well.
• Almost every Internet hosting service supports PHP.
• Many frameworks plus Content Management Systems are likewise supported by PHP.
• Over the years, PHP has obtained several FAQs plus an increasing number of library instructions.
• PHP can boast of having a huge number of developer clans, and the libraries are constantly updated to make it much easier.
Now that we have seen the benefits of Node.JS and PHP development services, we will look at some notable differences between the two.
Let’s know here When should you use PHP, and when should you be using Nodejs?
While choosing between PHP and Nodejs will be imperative to figure out the features required by your web project.
With its simplicity of development and performance advantages, it will be best to make use of NodeJS for building:
• A dynamic single-page app
• Real-time apps like Instant messengers
• While using front end technologies such as Angular and React
On the contrary, PHP will be appropriate for:
• An e-commerce website or blog with CMS
• With LAMP stack
• While you require prioritizing the use of integration and deployment
Conclusion
It is a tough job to choose between PHP and node JS. Both of them come with their advantages and drawbacks. It is almost impossible for any person to give a final verdict on which one will work better than the other. However, it will be imperative for you to figure out which one will be the best fit for your subsequent project.
Consequently, make it a point to write down the project specifications while comparing how node JS and PHP will be faring for your project. Moreover, another essential consideration will be the type of team possessed by you. If your developers are more skillful at working with node JS, you might like to go with that and vice versa.
Learn more here:
https://startupbyte.com/articles/nodejs-vs-php-which-is-better-for-you/e3ac81c7-e25c-4f0b-ad9e-f1b899b7104aFirst of all php is a language but node js is a framework.So that’s the first difference between them.Every language or framework has their advantages based on the era of they are being used.
I will be demonstrating only just the advantages of those two and soon you will be able to find the difference between them as well as the disadvantages of the two.
Php:
PHP (Hypertext Pre-Processor) is a server-side web programming language that is widely used for web development.
Pros:
1.PHP can run on both UNIX and Windows servers.
2.PHP is cheap, secure, fast and reliable for developing web applications.
3.P
First of all php is a language but node js is a framework.So that’s the first difference between them.Every language or framework has their advantages based on the era of they are being used.
I will be demonstrating only just the advantages of those two and soon you will be able to find the difference between them as well as the disadvantages of the two.
Php:
PHP (Hypertext Pre-Processor) is a server-side web programming language that is widely used for web development.
Pros:
1.PHP can run on both UNIX and Windows servers.
2.PHP is cheap, secure, fast and reliable for developing web applications.
3.PHP can be used with a large number of relational database management systems.
Node.Js:
Node.js is an open source, cross-platform runtime environment for server-side and networking applications. It brings event-driven programming to web servers enabling development of fast web servers in Javascript.
Pros:
1.Node.js uses JavaScript in the backend, and that’s enough to understand how fast the codes execute.
2.The event-driven architecture of node.js is appropriate for real-time applications, especially chat applications and games.
What is the purpose? What system would this backend cater to? Why are you comparing a language to a framework? These are the questions that should be asked before someone attempts to answer your question.
Node.js is a powerful framework, but since it uses JavaScript so one would invariably have to deal with all the frustration associated with JS. Thus, I wouldn't recommend it unless you are sure of complying to latest ecmascript standards. However, it is a recommended solution to develop a simple RESTful API or a single page application.
PHP on the other hand is a language, and has tons of good
What is the purpose? What system would this backend cater to? Why are you comparing a language to a framework? These are the questions that should be asked before someone attempts to answer your question.
Node.js is a powerful framework, but since it uses JavaScript so one would invariably have to deal with all the frustration associated with JS. Thus, I wouldn't recommend it unless you are sure of complying to latest ecmascript standards. However, it is a recommended solution to develop a simple RESTful API or a single page application.
PHP on the other hand is a language, and has tons of good frameworks to build a MVC based backend. Specially if you are using PHP 7 or HHVM then you can expect top level performance with nginx+php-fpm backend. Specially if you were to develop CRUD with a Bootstrap frontend then I would urge you to use Yii2 for its sheer speed (both development time as well as pagespeed).
Further, if you are planning to have a multi feature system, then you'll be better off to start with a base platform such as WordPress or Drupal (whichever is more suitable). In this case, you'll have to use PHP. In exchange, you'll not have to worry about user authentication or content management.
Having said that, your comfort with the language should be a strong reason to go with JavaScript or PHP.
Neither . You should write servers in Assembly !! Jk. PHP and NodeJs both have their pros and cons. Neither is the best. PHP is great for rapid developement for sites since you can easily write some small script upload it to Apache or Nginx with a PHP interpreter installed and it gets the job done. Also the fact that you can mix HTML and PHP is very attractive to beginners. PHP was built primarily
Neither . You should write servers in Assembly !! Jk. PHP and NodeJs both have their pros and cons. Neither is the best. PHP is great for rapid developement for sites since you can easily write some small script upload it to Apache or Nginx with a PHP interpreter installed and it gets the job done. Also the fact that you can mix HTML and PHP is very attractive to beginners. PHP was built primarily as a server side scripting language so a lot of tools are in built. But there’s one thing that PHP is kinda bad for : Real-time applications.
Thats where Node comes in. Node was built for this very purpose. But Node’s learning curve is higher. Node is not like PHP that you can just write any script and upload it via ftp to an apache server. With Node you have to write your own server. You have to write a lot of stuff unless you are using some sort of framework. But that teaches you a lot of things too. And syntax wise JavaScript is arguably much more ...
Obviously Nodejs . Many big tech giants are replacing PHP with Nodejs . If we talk about performance , Node is far better than PHP . If we talk about easiness , Node is far easier than PHP . Its far more simpler to do tasks in Node than in PHP . so I think Node is far better than PHP
Node is the a byproduct of the recent paradigm of programming. PHP and J2EE belong to the times when the client (web browsers) used to be extremely weak and thin. In those days, when the browsers had little ability to think and all they could do was to present what was given to them, server doing all the thinking was the only way out.
Computing has moved at a rate faster than what Moore's law says. Browsers themselves can now do more computation than some of the older days servers. And native Mobile apps have joins the race. Hence, the architecture of webpages havs now changed to webapps. The
Node is the a byproduct of the recent paradigm of programming. PHP and J2EE belong to the times when the client (web browsers) used to be extremely weak and thin. In those days, when the browsers had little ability to think and all they could do was to present what was given to them, server doing all the thinking was the only way out.
Computing has moved at a rate faster than what Moore's law says. Browsers themselves can now do more computation than some of the older days servers. And native Mobile apps have joins the race. Hence, the architecture of webpages havs now changed to webapps. The concept is that the webbrowser would download and cache the entire webapp (older days webpage) in one shot, and will then simply use sparks of data exchange as and when needed.
This webapp architecture defies the core proposition of PHP and JSP, which was all around dynamic code generation.
In conclusion, Node and other architectures that promote the webapp thinking will persevere, and PHP and perhaps J2EE will become like mainframe legacy applications soon.
If you’ve been developing sites, the one you’ve been using is usually the most productive.
If you haven’t been, stop looking at languages and learn programming itself (which I’ll bet you haven’t).
Currently, I would argue that PHP is the better solution, with many more architects solutions that represent high demand e-commerce sites.
Point-in-case: Magento.
Numerous smaller e-commerce offerings have sprung up - perhaps because of the ease of use of PHP (SquirrelCart, WooCommerce).
PHP has a history, and a large number of capable developers going for it.
Node is a relatively new contender as an
Currently, I would argue that PHP is the better solution, with many more architects solutions that represent high demand e-commerce sites.
Point-in-case: Magento.
Numerous smaller e-commerce offerings have sprung up - perhaps because of the ease of use of PHP (SquirrelCart, WooCommerce).
PHP has a history, and a large number of capable developers going for it.
Node is a relatively new contender as an e-commerce option - before they even hit 1.0 I believe I saw someone building out an e-commerce site utilizing node - and now there are more contenders, built out using frameworks like Meteor.
So - the real question is what developers do you have available to you?
PHP and JavaScript are (in my opinion) easy languages to pick up and run with. But they're harder to do well - especially with concerns of scalability and security.
So - if you’re wanting history and kn...
Both PHP and Node.js can manage web applications of any complexity, but they are built with different architectures and concepts. If you want to develop an app for your company and are confused between these two environments, you should be well aware of the major limitations or advantages.
These programming languages are good and it finally comes to the decision of the businesses on which platform they want to develop their website. If you want a good database integration than PHP is an ideal choice for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for designing interactive user interfaces than yo
Both PHP and Node.js can manage web applications of any complexity, but they are built with different architectures and concepts. If you want to develop an app for your company and are confused between these two environments, you should be well aware of the major limitations or advantages.
These programming languages are good and it finally comes to the decision of the businesses on which platform they want to develop their website. If you want a good database integration than PHP is an ideal choice for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for designing interactive user interfaces than you should go for Node.JS. Therefore, it ultimately comes down to businesses preference and requirements of their project.
When to use PHP:
– For software stacks like WAMP, MAMP, and LAMP.
– For content management systems like Drupal, WordPress, Joomla etc.
– For servers like SQL, MySQL, Oracle etc.
When to use Node.JS:
– Single page dynamic web applications (SPAs).
– Using with software stacks like MEAN stack.
– Using server-side technologies like Express.js, Node.JS, MongoDB, etc.
– Using with front-end technologies like Angular.JS, jQuery, React.JS etc.
It’s more about choosing the right tool for the problem to solve, there is nothing such as “best” language :).
Happy coding.
That is debatable, Node.js is Javascript, but with quite unique requirements because it is async, you will have to learn about Promise and a few other things.
PHP is pretty simple, it’s a C-like language which is quite good for web programming, it’s usually not async or threaded.
Node.js Pros:
- Uses JavaScript, aligning with frontend skills.
- Ideal for real-time apps and scalable systems.
- Faster execution due to the V8 engine and modern libraries (npm).
PHP Pros:
- Simple to learn, with built-in web development features.
- Excellent for CMS-driven sites (e.g., WordPress) and traditional hosting.
- Extensive frameworks like Laravel simplify backend tasks.
Recommendation:
- Choose Node.js for modern, scalable apps or shared JavaScript expertise.
- Opt for PHP for CMS-focused or simpler, traditional projects.
Better for what? This depends on what your goals are. If you are speaking of creating a website from scratch and had to pick one of the two technologies to get started quickly, then the answer to that is Node.js.
But if your goal is to create a complex application around an established framework such as Laravel, Symphony, or even WordPress then there is no way around it: you must use PHP.
Why Node.j
Better for what? This depends on what your goals are. If you are speaking of creating a website from scratch and had to pick one of the two technologies to get started quickly, then the answer to that is Node.js.
But if your goal is to create a complex application around an established framework such as Laravel, Symphony, or even WordPress then there is no way around it: you must use PHP.
Why Node.js is the better choice in general:
1. Because JavaScript is the most popular language today. If you know JavaScript and used it to build frontend applications, then Node.js will be cinch. You will be using the same syntax for the backend as well as the frontend. This alone is a big win for developers.
2. The popularity of Node.js is due to its package manager. With Node.js you are not left to reinvent the wheel every time. Do you need a script that can format decimals and currency symbols based on regional settings? There is a package for that. How about a simple way to format phone numbers based on country codes? There is a package for that too! How about connecting to AWS Cloud Services? Just download a package for it. With PHP you’ll have to dig this out from somewhere or create it yourself.
3. Easy crea...
Neither.
First off PHP is a programming but is showing it's age a bit.
Secondly, NodeJS is a RAD framework and cannot be compared to PHP.
IN ANY EVENT…
I'd always choose a staticlly typed language and well designed environment over dynamically typed languages and error filled frameworks with shitty dependency management and broken modules.
Depends on what you use it for, both are good. PHP is easier to program than Javascript I would say and the async programming model of Node.js is quite difficult to do, that is also easier with a threaded model in PHP.
Still Node.js.
PHP should be retired for new projects.
Node and PHP each have their own advantages and disadvantages, so there is no obvious winner.
PHP is frequently preferred because of its simplicity and ease of use, as well as the broad variety of available frameworks and tools, while Node is typically faster and more effective for developing real-time applications and handling large volumes of data.
The decision between Node and PHP ultimately comes down to the particular requirements of the project as well as the abilities and inclinations of the developer.
If this is just a poll ...
Node.js
I don't hate PHP and I do recognize the problems in both JavaScript and PHP. But Node.js is such a great idea and fun to program in. For me the yucky bits of PHP outweigh the yucky bits of JavaScript and the awesome bits of both JavaScript and Node.js outweigh the good bits of PHP.
PHP is practical but Node.js is fun, and still practical.