View Poll Results: Dual experienced comparison - PHP5 vs ASP.NET - better?

Voters
36. You may not vote on this poll
  • N/A - I haven't had enough experience in BOTH PHP5 & ASP.NET to answer

    2 5.56%
  • ASP.NET is better (I have experience in BOTH platforms)

    11 30.56%
  • PHP5 is better (I have experience in BOTH platforms)

    10 27.78%
  • ASP.NET is better (I have biased / more experinece with ASP.NET)

    0 0%
  • PHP5 is better (I have biased / more experinece with PHP5)

    13 36.11%
Multiple Choice Poll.
Results 1 to 17 of 17
  1. #1

    * PHP5 (FREE MySQL) vs ASP.NET (FREE SQL Server 2005 Express Edition)

    Ok, instead of beating this topic to death for the millionth time. Let's try and do this differently. Let's try and generate more feedback from those who:

    HAVE PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE WITH BOTH
    - PHP5 - AS WELL AS - ASP.NET!

    That way we don't have biases towards M$ OR opensource bashers. When you reply to which works best, it really depends on a specific situation. So instead of people asking randomly which one is better, why don't we start a dialogue based PURELY on programmers who have had experience building applications in BOTH frameworks.

    The best insight can come from actual "specific scenarios" you have to compare. To prompt dialogue, our test situation can be a database intensive social networking site like friendster or myspace for example.

    So let's have it, all of you with dual PHP5 / ASP.net "EXPERIENCE". Which one "is better" in your DUAL-"experience"?

    As for the subject line - "PHP5 (FREE MySQL) vs ASP.NET (FREE SQL Server 2005 Express Edition)"

    Don't forget that the FINAL SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is FREE for those that are comparing MySQL and M$'s database!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Kuwait
    Posts
    5,104
    There is really no point to this discussion -- as there is no point to the billion other ones just like this.

    Friendster runs on PHP -- MySpace is a cold fusion application.

    You cannot compare two languages and decide what is better for a particular purpose, unless you have a very specific project description, a description/evaluation of the available workforce, budget, etc.

    Obviously, from a budget standpoint, ASP.NET will cost more simply because you will need to buy licenses for Windows Server, and I'm sorry -- but you really cannot compare SQL Server Express edition with MySQL (or any other "real" database server). For one, the Express edition is limited in features and scalability.

  3. #3
    Will post link in a second to this quote from Database Journal:

    "Some Microsoft documentation describes SQL Express as a tool for hobbyists and non-database experts. Don't let these descriptions dissuade your use of SQL Express. It is a full featured robust SQL Server engine. Although SQL Express does ship with a tool similar to Query Analyzer, I feel hobbyists familiar with Microsoft Access, or File Maker Pro will not be able to make the transition. SQL Express is still SQL Server. For DBAs, this is a very good thing. The familiar methods, functions, and concepts from other versions of SQL Server carry over without change to SQL Express."

  4. #4
    When comparing the fact that many hosts charge the same for RedHat 4 & Windows 2003 + a matching control panel, the "COSTS" are about the same as far as "platform" - so in effect they are about the same from a hosting perspective.

    The only difference is getting access to .NET, which if you have access makes the choice very similar.

  5. #5
    Why don't we do this. This thread was supposed to purely generate feedback from those who have had mutual experience with both PHP5 and .NET.

    Let's change it up a little for better dialogue. If you want to post and don't have DUAL experience in both platforms, then PLEASE DO SO as long as you note that your experience in biased in your post first.

    THANKS

  6. #6
    Ok, back to the equal ground proof. Here's that link i mentioned above about SQL Server 2005 Express Edition being BOTH FREE &

    "is a full featured robust SQL Server engine." Check this out:

    http://www.databasejournal.com/featu...le.php/3492296

    another cool article I found:

    http://www.sitepoint.com/article/hos...ql-server-2005

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    42
    In my experience this sort of stuff really all depends. Sometimes clients tell you you must use .NET, sometimes they don’t care. Sometimes you need portability, therefore php might be better. Cost might be an issue, but sometimes people favour open source stuff like mysql and so on, not due to any cost related issue, but their retail counterpart is simply not as good.

    If people are fan boys of specific languages then obviously they are going to pick their favourite, however a very (very) rough model I use is.

    Hosted on Windows IIS - small to medium projects, then .NET
    Apache Environment - small to medium projects, then php
    Large Scale Projects - web based booking engines, things like that, java.

    I mean any programmer looking at that is just going to say that logic is a joke, but this is merely a guide to where I have personally worked on projects and what languages I have used in the past.

  8. #8
    Actually i agree with your logic for the most part I think what also might be interesting would be to discuss the whole "COST" issue.

    Personally, I feel using .NET or PHP5 platforms are both cost effective to pretty much the same exact level. But it seems that people tend to feel PHP5 is more cost effective just because it's open source. Microsoft doesn't charge for everything.. lol

    If a client is hosted somewhere which doesn't charge anything extra for Windows vs Linux (RHE4), then the only potential extra cost would be the database. And with SQL Server 2005 Express Edition being free and more powerful than mysql, that pretty equalizes any cost on the database side for a 1 processor system.

    Any other thoughts on the "COST" aspect in addition the general vibe of this thread?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    california
    Posts
    162
    I'd take asp.net over php anyday. You could also use the mysql db with asp.net very easily. Never used Sql Server with php though.

  10. #10
    This is where you can get the FREE SQL Server 2005 Express Edition and test it before it comes out stable & FREE http://www.microsoft.com/sql/2005/pr...nfo/letter.asp

    Isn't life awesome in a free comparison world?

  11. #11
    Hi everyone,

    I have experince in niether: i'm an asp developer.

    ok, so im nearly convinced: asp.net is better right? One problem im still struggling with: Do hosting companies have sql express installed? As far as i can see they all charge and extra $10/month or so for a tiny amount of sql space thats no good for even a personal site with a few pictures in the photo album.

    Wich would make php cheaper.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    california
    Posts
    162
    Why don't you use MySQL with ASP.NET? I think that combo should be fairly well. Of course, my host lets me buy SQL Server DB for 35$ a year so I don't use MySQL, but I was thinking about it when I migrated hosts, and got a few pages running. Just make sure if you already have SQL written, it can be used with whatever DB you choose (if you used SQL server before, some code is not compatable with MySQL).

  13. #13
    ok, not a bad idea. The new MS tools (visual web developer & web matrix) alow you to use mysql pretty easily but I guess I wanna use sql server on a in-for-a-penny-in-for-a-pound basis, Ive used sql server before so feel more comfortable with it too.

    I dont realy get the point of sql express if you cant use it on your hosting plan.

  14. #14
    ASP.NET Hands Down.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Posts
    433
    I've worked with PHP and Perl for the last 4 years or so, and still do for the most part, but I have recently gotten into working with ASP.NET (2.0) just because I think it is a good idea to get a feel for a diferent platform..So far I like it..

    I do not, however, have enough experience to chime in about running a large website such as MySpace or the like..This is coming straight off possible scenarios that I have toyed around with.

    What I like

    ASP.NET has a radical, different approach to web programming that is based on "controls", and also based on custom HTML-like tags that basically run on the server..This makes it hard for PHP programmers to related to the logic in programming because it behaves in a different manner in the way that events are fired, and listened for.

    ASP.NET has a better template managing system..HTML Controls can be easily inserted, modified without changing the code (which is valuable in terms of saving troubles when dealing with designers and such). It is very easy to "bind", and spit out data, takes about half the time to do in ASP.NET than PHP5, XML control is also pretty good. Although I do prefer PHP5's SimpleXML to do a quick and dirty job.

    ASP.NET has a great library, with a plethora of classes for almost every single type of proglem there is out..Very handy, and pretty well documented too!

    What I do not like

    1) Type casting (especially when interating through Arrays storing objects), strongly typed, ArrayLists, Hashes etc..Honestly, it is a pain, and it does take away from doing a quick and dirty job.

    2) The User Authentication system..Hard to implement one..not a lot of documentation on how exactly one can create an authentication system to work with what is provided.

    3) Locked in to the "framework"


    Overall it is great, although a bit of flexibility is missing, feels very much like you have to do stuff a certain way and do not have as much freedom of expression as say PHP.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    227
    I've been using PHP for about 5 years now. The first time I really dug into ASP.NET I was blown away. I can see why so many people are web apps over to ASP.NET. Among it's obvious perks it's fast as hell, cheap and has a fantastic IDE in VS.NET.

    That being said will I still write apps in PHP? Yes, I am right now as a matter of fact. Do customers ask for ASP.NET? Yes, way more than PHP. Look on job boards like monster.com and you'll see what I'm talking about.

  17. #17
    ASP.NET is a great language with a good deal of power and flexibility. But I still prefer php becuase PHP is starting to make changes to make it even faster and have a greater range of uses. Plus ASP.NET might be cheaper for the language end but then again it is designed for windows use. Which windows servers are more costly to run since its not free open source like linux.

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