Web development seems to be a diverse & ever-changing field. New technologies and tools come up regularly, due to which app programmers and developer. Node.js and PHP are server-side scripting languages that allow you to create dynamic websites. Node.js are built on Chrome’s JavaScript engine, while PHP is based on the popular PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) language. This means that Node.JS can be used for executing JavaScript code directly from your website. PHP also has an advantage in database configuration because it supports multiple operating systems and databases out of the box.
They get confused between the long term, mature solutions and the new upcoming ones.
Backend programmers are the ones who usually have to deal with the problem of selecting between PHP and Node.js. This has now become a common situation with the developers due to certain reasons.
In this article, we will be talking about the difference between Node.js and PHP performance.
Node js is a powerful JavaScript-centered runtime framework that lets you run highly complex programs without the dire need of a web browser. It’s a free, open-source server platform that can run on different operating systems like Windows, Linux, Mac.
Node js supports asynchronous programming, meaning it allows multiple chunks of instructions to work parallel.
If we talk about PHP, It is a server-side scripting language, which is a contraction of Hypertext Preprocessor. Scripts are executed on the server and it can have HTML, CSS, JS, and PHP codes in it. PHP has been around for quite some time.
It is powered by Zend Engine that can be installed on web servers like Apache. PHP became popular way back and 80% of the websites are now backed up by it.
In this article we’ll study much more about difference between Node.js and PHP performance.
The following image shows the most popular languages as per companies using it.
We need to focus on how JavaScript and PHP are on the top 10 most widely held languages. Many explanations are hovering as to why they’re the most popular languages. In this article, I will highlight a few reasons why.
Both PHP and Node JS are used for web development and many developers are left wondering on what to choose. Let’s take a look at both of them.
Table of Contents
Why is NODE.js an uproar?
JavaScript on Server-side
Node js changed the paradigm of JavaScript as a client-side language and abated the limitations to the server-side. This is one of the reasons for the uproar as the same language on both the front and back end can be used.
Easy to manage
As the technology is headed towards a more responsive nature and bolsters adaptability, it’s becoming much easier to maintain it as well. Managing your projects that are to be projected on a distributed and vast system is a necessity. One of the traits that give clout to Node JS.
Light-weighted
Node js is light-weighted as it is an event-driven, nonblocking I/O model that can tackle data-intensive real-time applications with ease. Node JS works effortlessly for distributed systems even though it’s single-threaded but it has the functionality that can have multi processes listen to the same port.
The following comparison of two subsequent years proves that Node js is one of the exceeding technologies.
Why is PHP so popular?
Embeddable
Php is embeddable with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript through the PHP tags. This makes PHP more flexible and dynamic because it is being utilized in a more effective manner. Now you can use the trivial extent of PHP in HTML and CSS to add more functionality.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Document</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>code leaks!</h1>
<?php
echo "Hello World!";
?>
<script>
alert(“hello”);
<script/>
</body>
</html>
Extensive and Additions
As businesses and industries are facing emerging trends in technologies to keep up with the crowd’s demands, it has become necessary to use a tool that can expand with needs. Php gives that diversity and easy extensions to be added into the bundle.
Supports Fast Development
PHP understands the need for the fast development of any website and provides solutions for quick results. It improves speed development by increasing the speed of execution. PHP uses Apache sever to grow towards tools like MySql through web stacks.
Now let’s see what are the main difference between Node.js and PHP performance.
Performance
Php provides a steady and dependable platform for web development but node js are relatively faster when it comes to speed and execution.
Node JS uses a V8 engine.
This increases the performance and translates the JS code into machine code without the use of an interpreter.
Php is portable as it’s designed to work with different servers like Apache and Ngnix and OS like windows, Linux. Php was designed for web development.
Node JS provides a fast server-side service. It uses event-driven architecture to cater to multiple requests and processes.
PHP has been around for more than 20 years and it has grown quite a lot over the last 2 decades. While Node JS is a new and trendy technology, the difference between them is clear.
Programming
Variable declaration in PHP
A variable declaration in PHP is rather simple and easy.
$txt = "code leaks";
echo $txt;
Variable declaration in JS
JavaScript has variations for declaring respective to the scope.
var
The scope of a var variable declared outside a function is global.
var a =10;
console.log(a);
let
Let allows you to declare a local variable and have block scope. It means that the scope of the variable will be limited to the definition of the block.
if(true){
let a=20;
console.log(a);
}
const
Const is used once the variable is declared. Once initialized, the value cannot change and will remain constant throughout the program.
function func(){
const MY_VARIABLE =10;
console.log(MY_VARIABLE);
} PHP loops vs Node JS loops
Loops in any programming language are essential due to the repetitive nature of the programs.
PHP has for, while, for each, and do-while loop. Whereas Node JS uses JavaScript which has ES6 with its new and powerful features.
While loop in PHP
$x = 1;
while($x <= 5) {
echo "The value of x: $x <br>";
$x++;
} While loop in JS
var x = 1;
while (x <= 4)
{
document.write("Value of x:" + x + "<br />");
x++;
}
Do while loop in PHP
Do while works exactly similar to while loop but is restricted to the condition that the loop will be executed at least once, even if the condition set is false.
$x=1;
do {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
$x++;
} while ($x <= 5);
Do while in JS
var x = 1;
do
{
document.write("Value of x:" + x + "<br />");
x++;
} while (x < 10); For loop in PHP
for ($x = 0; $x <= 10; $x++) {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
} For loop in JS
var x;
for (x = 2; x <= 4; x++)
{
document.write("Value of x:" + x + "<br />");
} JavaScript has two other alterations of for loop known as for-in and for-of loops.
For-in loop
It iterates through the properties of an object.
var person = {name:"Maria", lastName:"Su", age:25};
var x;
for (x in person) {
text += person[x];
} For-of loop
It is used to iterate an iterable object’s values like an array, strings, lists, etc.
var names = ['Rifx', 'Kira', 'L'];
var x;
for (x of names) {
document.write(x + "<br >");
} Functions
Functions should not be neglected when considering the performance and quality of an application. The way the syntax, processing, compilation, and the return type of a function behaves, directly impacts the execution and performance. Even the minor variations while comparing PHP and Node JS can have different effects over the software.
Functions in php (user defined)
function addNums(int $a, int $b) {
return $a + $b;
}
echo addNums(5, 1); Functions in JS
function myFunction(a, b) {
return a * b;
}
myFunction(2,3);
JS has another alteration of functions known as arrow functions from ES6. You can write the above function in a precise and compact form while using keywords that are necessary and eliminate the others.
myFunction = (a,b) => a*b;
As JavaScript has the latest features after the introduction of ES5 and Es6, it is more popular than PHP when it comes to programming. However, PHP has a lot of support because it has a large community supporting it, and it is very decent for web development.
Practical applications
Node.js is used in web apps, multithreaded apps, game servers, browsers, etc. Yet, PHP is used for web-based applications.
PHP
Node JS
Yahoo
WordPress
Tumblr
Wikipedia
Flickr
Netflix
Trello
PayPal
Uber
When to use PHP and node js?
Php is highly portable and can be used where Apache is installed with a supported database. If your application is not distributed on multiple servers, PHP is perfect. As discussed above, PHP is designed for websites and is more suitable for CMS and WordPress, Wix and Typo3 are famous examples of PHP’s strengths.
Node js was designed for real-time, distributed systems to handle event-based requested through a push-based architecture. JavaScript is used in both the front and back end which leads to simplicity over complex programs.
Conclusion
Here we have seen the difference between Node.js and PHP performance, both node JS and PHP are powerful and reliable technologies. When choosing between both, you need to focus on which best fulfills your software’s demand rather than fixating on which technology is better.
Also, one more essential thing to consider here is the proficiency and skills of the programmers using that particular technology, how they make use of them & apply to the specific project.
