Node Js Vs PHP

PHP was very cool toy of first years of 2000s. PHP project started in 1990s and became popular very quickly. But as a result of general PHP structure PHP is not comfortable. But now a days Nodejs is very popular, so i am writing this article about Node Js vs PHP.

Node Js Vs PHP First Look:

PHP is most popular programming language on the web. Almost 40% of all websites made with PHP. PHP is very simple language to pick up. If you know any other C type programming language, you can pick PHP up in an afternoon. This is the most important reason becoming popular.

With PHP 4 object oriented programming support has been added. But object oriented programming is fully implemented in PHP 5 version. But nature of PHP is not designed for object oriented programming.

Node js is founded in 2009. Became very popular very quickly. Like PHP you can pick up Node Js very quickly. Also all front end developers already know Javascript.

Javascript is very easy language to use but Javascript offers different solutions for everything. But i have to say, Javascript syntax is not good as other popular programming languages.

Node Js vs PHP – Setup:

Php has no built in server

This was true, but i am very happy to say it is wrong now. You don’t need a web server to test your codes.

But i am not sure with using built in server in production. You still have set up an Apache or NginX server for production.

Node Js has a built in web server. But you can use built in node js server in production. Also Node JS applications run in single core, but you can easily cluster Node Js applications. Standart Node js server is easy to set up, configure and use.

Also you can install node js with simple setup. Easy install is important future when you are comparing node js vs php for new programmers.

IDE

PHP has been around for a long time. This is the most important reason for existence of good ides. But Jetbrains ide is usable for both languages and also very good.

But PHP has much more IDE’s than NodeJs. I recommend to use an editor despite of the IDE. Github’s Atom is hackable and good editor for almost all languages.

Development

I think this is the most important topic for developers since you start reading this article.

Package manager is important topic for comparing node js vs php.

Developers know you don’t need to reinvent to wheel. Lot’s of developers need same codes. ORM’s, session controllers, MVC patterns. Therefore package managers are very important. Node Js has a very active package manager NPM. PHP has a partially “new” package manager composer. NPM is very active environment, you can find a package about almost everything.

Re-using tested code becomes more important when you are building a huge project. Node Js package manager is far better than composer. Also you can define your own package very easily.

PHP developers like new generation PHP frameworks like Laravel and Symfony. Symfony is a good framework but this framework is not easy to learn. And Laravel is no backwards compatible. Therefore i still use Codeigniter for PHP projects.

Node Js frameworks are easy to pick up and use. When you are building  a huge project structure can get complex very easy. You have to be careful about your code.

Conclusion

Node Js is very good option to use in new projects. Also Node Js runs faster than PHP.  For api’s node js is far better option than PHP. Node Js vs PHP article is not easy to write because both languages for same people, solves same problems.

Do you have an opinion, please leave a comment.