Updated March 8, 2023
Introduction to PHP Alternatives
PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. It is being widely used as an open source scripting language. These scripts which are created are run on the server. Being open source PHP can be downloaded from the internet and can be used by anyone for free. It is basically a server-side scripting language and is majorly used for web development. It was developed by Rasmus Lerdorf and originally stood for Personal Home Page. The PHP code is embedded in HTML code and can be used with various web template systems, content management systems and different web frameworks. It has been one of the oldest scripting languages. But as technologies are changing at a rapid speed people have fast started using the different alternatives that have started reigning. Let us have a look at these alternatives of PHP which are turning out to be better than PHP.
Alternatives of PHP
As in the above section we have gone through the Introduction to PHP. Now we are going to learn about the List of PHP Alternatives.
1. JavaScript
JavaScript is fast coming out to be one of the best Alternatives of PHP. It helps in creating interactive websites and all major web browsers support JavaScript codes. Due to this, there is no need to install any other extra tool to run the JS codes. JavaScript codes can run on the visitor’s browser and hence it is often known as client-side language. New interactive applications can be created very fast by making use of HTML, CSS and its amalgamation with JavaScript makes it even better. It is one of the fastest growing communities and all tasks are already included in this language. It is similar to C so anyone can work in JavaScript and switch from C, C# or Java Programming. To add to these features, it is easy to learn with the presence of many sandboxes of JS online.
2. Ruby
Ruby is another language which is gaining importance and comes in the list of PHP Alternatives. It is an object-oriented language which automatically manages the memory usage and it has a dynamic type system. It has a clear syntax and can be easily understood by all people who know object-oriented programming concepts. Also, there are many people who are learning the language and about the various libraries that are present. In addition to this, many programmers can also add new libraries and maintain them on a regular basis. It is easy to learn as all learning material is present online with many people putting up source codes on community forums.
3. Python
Python was designed by Guido van Rossum in 1991. The most important advantage of Python is that it is readable like English and very easy to understand. The syntax can be read without any issues and is quite similar to English as it uses the word AND instead of ‘&&’. There are many people contributing to the documentation of the language and its functions. These documents are very well written and can be easily read and learned by all the programmers who are trying to learn it. Programmers can quickly become part of groups and discuss all their queries and different topics related to Python. Python is popular as many big companies are using it. If you know Python well then, many companies like Dropbox, Google, Citi, Toyota, etc. are using it extensively. It also bangs on, on security and it most scalable. Python hence stands to be one of the most loved frameworks due to it being easy to pick up and being flexible.
4. C#
C# is a language which was developed by Microsoft. Its syntax is similar to C and hence any programmer knowing C can easily learn it. C# is very close to them.Net framework. They provide many libraries which can be easily used in the industry. C# stands to be a logical language and is considered to be a well-developed language. It follows all industry paradigms and hence covers all elements of the language that are being used. C# can also be used for any non-Windows programming like on platforms like Linux and OS X. To add to these operating systems, it also supports smartphone applications like iOS, Windows phone, and Android. As it has .NET libraries being present, it is considered to be one of the best solutions when it comes to using Windows-based applications. It does not require any external libraries and by making use of basic Win app and by using the built-in code pieces of your software code can be easily built and used for programming and creating different web applications. Memory management is easily taken care of by C# and hence the programmers need not worry about handling this task.
5. Go
Go was created by Google employees in 2009. It is an open source language which uses static typing and garbage collection. Go was developed to be a simple language which does the work of compiling the source code quickly when compared to other languages. It is considered to be a combination of C-like and Python language. To elaborate Go as fast as C and simple as Python. It supports further development where people who built it were top programmers and engineers from the industry. The newer versions of this language did not make it difficult as the main goal of this language was to make a language which can be widely used. There is no need for any documentation as it can be quickly grasped and used. It supports code in pieces and by making use of the same package name everywhere the compiler can understand that these independent files belong to this package and integrates them into the same package. This does not make the code long and messy. It also provides automatic garbage collection feature which stands out to be a boon for the memory management.
Conclusion
There are many programming languages which can be used as an alternative to PHP. PHP was the preferred languages for server-side programming but people still cannot avoid using it as the majority of websites have been built using PHP. These are a few languages and there are many more which are providing many facilities which outnumber PHP. It is your requirement and choice which can help you decide and use the language of your choice and have some best web applications built.
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