PHP vs Python: which is the top programming language for 2019? This is one of the most baffling questions for businesses for their next web development project. Being a leading software consulting company in India, we always face this question from our customers. So, in this blog, we try to find the answer to this question in an elaborative way.
2018 was the year of interactive web apps. But there is much more to come in 2019. Now, web app developers make use of third-party libraries and scaffolding instead of reinventing the wheel every time and in order to ensure that the client’s projects are all set for live deployments within the given time.
While cross-platform libraries and the RESTful API’s have made web development easier, they have not solved the old question that still hinders and (bitterly) divides developers, managers and customers alike.
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Python or PHP: What Should You Choose?
This question is worthful and an important discussion point especially for beginners or the start-ups who want to make it big in the custom web app development. In fact, PHP and Python, both have become the most popular web development languages because of project budgeting and other development considerations. Today, these two languages are most popularly used across the world on the internet.
It is often seen that beginners face many challenges as compared to experienced developers as they have a very different set of requirements. However, seasoned software developers don’t panic into picking up a new language. On the other hand, beginners have trouble due to two related battles. First, they need to learn the programming constructs and then understand how to implement these constructs in any programming language of the given choice. Moreover, they need to have expertise in syntax which often makes no sense to them.
A big issue exists due to the bias of experienced web developers. If you talk to a Python web programmer, he will provide you with all the best things you could do with this language.
At the same time, if you talk to a PHP web developer, they will also tell you the same thing that there is no other language that exist better than PHP. Only a few developers will actually have good things to say about the programming languages they don’t use.
So, you should avoid mentioning the pros and cons of both Python and PHP. In this blog, we have discussed the three main areas which beginners must consider while selecting the first programming language.
After reading this blog, you will have a clear idea of where go for PHP web development or Python web development.
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Python vs PHP: Framework Usage Statistics
Statistics for websites using Programming Language technologies:
Check out here these three main areas in the context of Python vs PHP.
1) CMS and Frameworks
A framework can be defined as a community that contributed and maintained a compilation of code which allows web developers to quickly develop web applications instead of building everything from scratch. For adding specific functionality to an app, a typical framework gives you hundreds of functions. Developers could call these functions as per their requirements in order to add functionality to the application.
Python offers very powerful and versatile Python frameworks but the options in these frameworks are however limited. In fact, it offers a wide range of frameworks that performs the same function as PHP frameworks do. Flask and Django are two popular options that Python developers use to create web applications. The number of Python frameworks is increasing slowly due to the increase of the language in the main projects.
When it comes to PHP, it also offers a large number of frameworks. Developers use these frameworks for creating purposeful and industry-specific applications. PHP frameworks such as Symfony and Laravel empower popular applications that are used by millions of users. Expert PHP programmers have the advantage of mature frameworks that are maintained by an enthusiastic community.
For CMS:
A CMS is a software platform that offers a flexible solution for projects. Whether it’s a simple blog, an e-commerce store or a corporate portal, CMS offers a comprehensive solution that ensures that developers and end-users can focus on the business case instead of building the platform from scratch.
In fact, the most popular CMS i.e. WordPress itself is built using PHP. Another leading open source e-commerce platform, WooCommerce, and Magento are also built in PHP. However, Python provides a range of Django powered CMS which are having a limited following.
So we can see that PHP is a clear winner because it has something for everyone. In many cases, PHP offers more versatile options in both CMS and frameworks that match the specifications of the project.
2) Popularity
There is no doubt that both PHP and Python are the most popular languages today. Even when these languages do not drive a project, the project managers and the client consider them. At the moment, PHP overwhelmingly dominates the Internet with more than approx. 80% of the market.
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PHP powers various popular websites including Yahoo, Wikipedia, Flickr, and Tumblr. At very first, Facebook was completely powered with PHP. Since then, the giant of social media networks has made the transition to a PHP framework that incorporates all the features that Facebook developers need for the development of platforms and applications.
Python web development actually gained the popular status when Google chose it for powering some of its well-known projects. Since then this trend prevailed and now various industry giants such as Reddit, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and Spotify use this language in their product platforms.
However, this alone cannot decide which platform is the best for web development.
So, with these parameters, we can say that both Python and PHP are giving neck to neck competition in the popularity contest. These languages are used to launch many new projects daily.
3) Learning Curve
The learning curve is the major concern of this blog. It is the measurement of acquiring a particular language. In the case of web programming language, the learning curve signifies how much you have become fluent in syntax and using the tools which are used to translate the web design into functional code.
In this case, Python wins over the PHP language. For beginners, Python is much more easy to understand and more readable than PHP. In fact, PHP is not meant for new users since it has little room for mistakes done by a newbie and has rules which are much tough.
However, Python has room for mistakes especially in formatting and the code doesn’t break because of small mistakes. This is a great encouragement for a beginner. This is the reason why many CS schools around the world now opt for Python as the strong language in which to teach the basics of programming.
PHP community, however, has put a lot of effort into making things easy and beginner-friendly. PHP experts are trying all possible ways like tutorials, courses, etc. in order to make it an easy language which is as easy to understand as Python.
Bottom line:
It could be a difficult decision when it comes to choosing the first programming language to use for your web development project. The decision becomes more complex when both contenders PHP and Python are worth to gain your attention. Both languages offer many learning opportunities in the form of easy-to-use syntax validation tools and training projects that facilitate the learning process and allow a solid foundation of language.
We recommend to try out both the languages and then use one which suits best to you as per your project’s requirements. Lastly, PHP is good for better job prospects and technical resources while Python is easiest among two to acquire for the project. If you want to hire full stack developers, hire PHP developers or hire python developers, please contact PixelCrayons. We are one of the leading web development companies in India.
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Useful piece! I’m really glad to know about which language to choose between Python Vs Php.
The comparison is very well stated with the help of stats.
very informative
A nice read
The stats used really helped me a lot in understanding the difference, very well written
Nice read