Node.JS vs PHP? What Should You Choose for Your Development Project?

Web development is a diverse and constantly evolving field. New technologies and tools appear regularly, due to which programmers and application developers face the dilemma of choosing between long-term and mature solutions and new ones to come.

Senior Developers / Team Leaders are the ones who generally have to deal with the problem of choosing between PHP and Node.js.

Previously, Javascript (the one underlying Node.Js) did not overlap with PHP. Javascript was used to develop front-end applications and, on the other hand, PHP was used to develop server-side applications. Working together, these two languages ​​have made some amazing websites possible.

So what happened all of a sudden?

Why has the situation changed?

This happened when Javascript (JS) was represented by a whole new Node.Js and started to enter the “server” realm and ultimately distracted backend programmers from traditional PHP.

As a reminder,

Node.Js is a JavaScript language development platform that has integrated an HTTP server. It is also a library of this language which allows actions such as creating a file or opening and closing network connections. It is also used to make web pages interactive and dynamic.

PHP , short for Hypertext Preprocessor, is a general-purpose scripting language that was designed for web development . It is used as the first choice for the language of content management systems (CMS) like WordPress , Drupal or even Joomla and for frameworks like Laravel and Symfony .

The common point that we find in the two technologies is that they are therefore used in the back-end side to be able to develop dynamic websites .

What are the differences between Node.JS and PHP Performance?

The advantages of using Node.Js:

Node.Js has the advantage of being faster and lighter compared to PHP.

Node.js really helps in building fast, scalable network applications, offers benefits in performance, faster development, and other perks.

Developers prefer to use Node.Js because it has:

• Integrated server support
• A syntax almost identical to that of JavaScript, which makes it easier to learn for JS developers
• Its workflow module can facilitate work with large files
• Modules remain constantly available once they have been downloaded and initialized for the first time
• A similar syntax for both sides: client and server, which will allow code reuse.

The advantages of using PHP:

PHP also has its own advantages over Node.Js:

• Its development environment is easier to configure
• All internet hosting services support PHP
• It supports more frameworks and CMS
• It contains a large library of instructions and frequently asked questions

It is possible to use PHP for your project if it includes:

• The use of CMS like Drupal and WordPress or the Symfony framework for all or part of your site;
• If you need to use a relational database

What technology should you adopt for your project?

To make your final choice regarding the technology to adopt, it will depend on the type of applications you wish to develop, as well as your requirements with regard to the choice of hosting and the delivery time of the site.

Another point to be aware of is that you should use PHP for applications where the client does not have a strong interaction with the server.

While you should instead resort to Node.Js if your application requires a lot of interaction between the server and the client.

If you have a project linked to a realtime application, it is better that you go for Node.Js or if you want to use a so called “standardized” solution instead, then you can choose PHP.