As a techie with over 20 years of experience, I have to say that Hollywood takes movie inspiration from our world; think about all those movies where two long-time friends separate ways and clash later. Yes, yes – it is completely drawn from the tech world, or specifically, from the NodeJS and PHP clash that has also resulted into debates between PHP and JavaScript. Originally, the role of both PHP and JavaScript were both well-defined but once a developer figured out how to use JavaScript for server-side programming, the clash started.
But, why exactly do you need to know about this clash between JavaScript and PHP when we are talking about NodeJS vs PHP? Well, this is because NodeJS is a JavaScript framework that runs on the client-side and allows developers to easily use JavaScript for all website work. Hence, this debate has now translated to NodeJS and PHP, which is really the greatest debate of all time! Now, if you are a part of the developer community, you might be confused about which tech stack you should reach for.
Here’s your solution to that – in this article, we have dealt with the NodeJS vs PHP debate from different POVs to help you better understand which technology you should choose. After all, rescuing you from your dilemma at the earliest will not only help you get started, but will also allow you to confidently take up development projects. So, without any more beating around the bush, let us jump right into this article and discuss the NodeJS vs PHP debate.
An Overview of Both Technologies and Who Uses Them
Before we look at NodeJS and PHP from a technical POV, it is important that we look at an overview of both and discuss who uses them. In this section, we have divided the discussion into two subsections – one on NodeJS and one on PHP for added flexibility and convenience.
An Overview of NodeJs and Who Uses It
As someone who works at a NodeJS development company, it is important that you have an idea about what this technology brings to the table. NodeJS is an open-source technology that offers a runtime environment that has everything you might need to run a JavaScript program. You can think of NodeJS as a technology that will help enable your JavaScript program on the server-side, helping you quickly build fast and scalable web applications.
Generally, NodeJS is used with ExpressJS, which is a framework that allows the proper usage of NodeJS; when you combine both of these technologies, you harness their unlimited capabilities and can take your JavaScript programming to the next level to ensure the development of seamless and error-free applications. And, if NodeJS is a great technology choice for companies like Uber, LinkedIn, and Netflix, why wouldn’t other companies and developers onboard NodeJS into their tech stack?
An Overview of PHP and Who Uses It
PHP is also an open-source framework that enables developers to perform server-side scripting and is one of the earliest languages offering this functionality. But, if NodeJS has taken up most of the web development tasks, why is PHP still significant today? Well, PHP changed the course of web development by introducing dynamic websites to users; and, facilitated the creation of the web development world that we know today.
WordPress’ CMS is widely used by websites and is based on PHP, meaning that quite a number of websites use PHP in their tech stack. Even as someone working at a NodeJS development company, we cannot ignore the power of PHP and its capabilities; which is why, some of our projects often require PHP and are based on it. Some popular companies that have remained loyal to PHP include – Wikipedia, Slack, Facebook, and other well-known tech companies.
The NodeJS vs PHP Debate – A Head-to-Head Comparison
Now that we have an overview about the uses of both NodeJS and PHP, let us have a look at both of these technologies and make a head-to-head comparison that helps us better understand how each of them are different. Note that whichever language you choose, you need to have an idea about concepts like databases, networks, OS, and frameworks to provide better backend development services.
| Based on | NodeJS | PHP |
| Learning Curve | Since NodeJS is based on JavaScript, a language almost every developer knows, learning NodeJS becomes quite easy and can be done quite quickly. | PHP is not based on JavaScript and is an entirely different language, which is why to use PHP, web developers need to spend extra time learning the concepts. |
| Performance | NodeJS is widely-known for its event-driven and non-blocking IO model that allows uninterrupted execution of user requests and allows the creation of real-time applications. Moreover, NodeJS is wired in such a way that execution of requests is seamless and happens in quite less time. | PHP also offers significant application performance, but unlike NodeJS, it doesn’t have a non-blocking IO model; so, although PHP offers great performance, it is nowhere near that provided by NodeJS. Another important point that you must note is that PHP might not support real-time execution of requests and might bring up some delay. |
| Safety and Security Features | NodeJS lacks in-built security features, which is why developers are responsible for implementing and managing security aspects of the application. This can lead to prolonged development times and might also increase the overall development effort needed. | PHP is a secure server-side programming language that comes with built-in security features that allow the seamless creation of secure and unhackable applications. |
| Database Support | NodeJS offers better support for NoSQL and Graph databases; so, you can easily work with databases like MongoDB, AWS DynamoDB, Neo4j, and CouchDB. | PHP is more inclined towards SQL-based relational databases; so, as a PHP developer, you can work with MySQL, SQLite, MariaDB, and PostgreSQL. |
Conclusion
Coming to the end of this article, it is clear that both NodeJS and PHP have their own sets of strengths and weaknesses; and, even as someone working at a NodeJS development company, I have to say that both of these technologies are undoubtedly the best. However, if you want to build applications that work in real-time and do not have any delay, go with NodeJS; but, PHP is better for the seamless development of secure applications where a small delay is acceptable.
We hope the above article was quite clear and helped you take a stand in this NodeJS vs PHP debate. If you do not have technical knowledge but would like to build a seamless application for your business, we recommend you partner with a top PHP or NodeJS development company or hire a dedicated team specializing in offering backend development services.