With businesses trying to evolve with time, many of them look to leverage the reach of the online marketplace by building websites and apps that showcase their products and services. Backend development is a highly sought-after skill – being the key to build robust applications that not only meet consumer requirements, but also secure the vast amount of data created and collected through such mediums.
Organizations that understand the need for a secure platform pay generously to manage their backend infrastructure and recognize that building a seamless product starts with choosing a dependable programming language.
There are many languages that help produce high-performing, scalable and secure web products, but how does one choose the ideal language to build the desired product that not only provides the required services but is also flexible enough to incorporate the changes that the near or distant future might bring? This is one of the key aspects that software languages need to address in today’s rapidly transforming business scenario.
Here we look at two of the most popular backend technologies – PHP and Python – and what each one of them offers.
Python
Python is a high level interpreted and object-oriented programming language that is used for developing standalone programs and scripting algorithms for various domains. The first version was released in 1990 by its creator Guido Van Rossum.
PHP
Hypertext Preprocessor was invented in 1995 and is a server-side scripting language used to build dynamic HTML content over the web. It is popularly used for generating XML documents, Flash animations, graphics, PDF files and much more.
Here we look at a few parameters that help us understand how each programming language is different.
Framework
Python web development supports fewer frameworks as compared to PHP. Some of the popular Python web development frameworks are Django and Flask. PHP development on the other hand equips developers with multiple frameworks, and some of the extensively used ones are Laravel and Slim.
Syntax
Python’s syntax is easily understandable and retained as it is very similar to a spoken language. Although PHP’s syntax is slightly more complicated when viewed against Python, it is still easily understandable. This is more due to Python’s highly straightforward syntax rather than PHP having a complex one – although it does have a wider naming convention.
Key features
Some of the most impressive aspects of Python web development are the significantly lesser lines of code required to deliver an output, which in turn enables rapid deployment and its dynamic code that can incorporate multiple aspects – making it a truly versatile programming language. PHP development on the other hand is mainly used to deploy robust backend solutions easily.
Language type
As highlighted in the previous point, Python web development is all-encompassing and used for multiple solutions, whereas PHP development is mainly implemented in backend web solutions.
Fields of implementation
Python web development can be used in multiple fields of work such as machine learning, data science, artificial intelligence, and task automation, whereas PHP development is preferred mainly for web development solutions.
Learning curve
The Python learning curve is steep and hence is usually used in projects that have longer delivery timelines. PHP development, with its easy learning methodologies has a very small learning curve and most of the principles of this language can be understood effortlessly.
Semantics & functionality
PHP programming does not have object-oriented paradigms which makes it easy to learn and its syntax is similar to C and Java. Unlike PHP, Python programming has deep object-oriented capabilities and also supports procedural and functional programming. Python programming has a strong type system and uses explicit techniques.
If you are looking to build secure web solutions for your business using the latest that technology has to offer, contact the experts at Smart Sight Innovations who leverage the best of Python libraries and PHP programming to build a world class product for you.
