In this highly technology-driven era, where computers are catering a significant role in our lives and technologies are evolving at every fourth hour, undoubtedly learning a computer language has become an urgent need for developers.
If you are a newbie in the field of web development, the toughest thing about learning programming languages is to decide where to begin your journey. Whether you are a developer looking for the best programming language to learn in 2020 or an entrepreneur searching for the best suited backend-programing language for the company website, you both have landed at the right battlefield.
We understand your love and passion for learning different programming languages. However, with over 700 programming languages, for a few developers, it is always a matter of confusion which backend framework they should learn in 2020 for web development.
Since learning a new programming language is always an investment of your time and efforts. So if you already know the various programming languages, then you probably want to learn a modern one with advanced features.
However, if you are putting the first step of your career in web development in 2020 and want to learn a programming language having the below characteristics:
- Easy to learn,
- Widely used to develop an enterprise-level application,
- Top-ranked as the reputed programming languages,
- Having a comprehensive set of libraries, frameworks and strong community support,
- Stable or rising in popularity,
- And, also highly demanding in the job market.
Then it is best to know that Java and PHP are the two significant titans of this community. According to the survey, in early 2019, Java is rounded out as the top five programming languages, and 41% of developers are using this language for web development leaving behind PHP at 26.4%. While there is nothing good or bad about any programming language, but Java and PHP, both are rulers of programming languages in their kingdom.
Now the central question is, Which one of the most favourable programming languages between Java or PHP?
Of course, choosing the best programming language is a nerve-wracking task, but this post will help you make an informed decision about which is the best language for now and future?
Quick Highlights of The Blog:
- Understanding the Baseline of PHP and Java
- Java vs PHP: Top Advantages of Using Java Over PHP
- Java Vs PHP: Which Language Has A Bright Future?
- Conclusion
Let?s dig deep in each point!
Overview of the PHP and Java
In a nutshell: PHP is an open-source server-side scripting tool widely used to develop responsive portals, whereas Java is a client-side programming language that is majorly accessed for building enterprise-level web applications.
PHP stands for hypertext preprocessor, launched in 1995 as a contrast to Ruby and Python. As PHP provides a range of frameworks which are quick and highly productive, therefore developing dynamic web pages are quite cost-effective with PHP.
Major companies using PHP are Facebook, Flickr, Wikipedia, Tumblr, Yahoo and more.
On the other hand, competitor Java is the client-side programming language considered as the most stable programming language, that has been surviving in the programming industry for 20 years. As this language is based on Write Once, Run Anywhere (WORA) approach, it has gained an excellent reputation for its efficient cross-platform compatibility. The Java Virtual Machine enables this programming language to work on a variety of devices and platforms.
Major companies using Java programming language are eBay, Linkedin, Amazon, Aliexpress, and so on.
Java vs PHP: Which is the Best Choice of Programming Language?
Which is better for web application Java or PHP?
You must be wondering, why we have straightaway declared above Java as a winning programming language over PHP. To support this statement, we have listed some of the significant benefits of choosing Java for enterprise-level web development over PHP.java app development company
Let?s dive insight!
1. PHP VS Java: Performance & Speed
In a nutshell: While comparing the Java vs PHP performance, Java is clearly a winner as it is faster and efficient than PHP to write enterprise applications.
Like developers have to build mobile enterprise applications to streamline complex business processes and operations. In the same way, businesses require programmers to write complex enterprise applications to be accessed by a large number of employees.
And, According to Sitepoint, they suggest Java is much faster than PHP.
While the latest versions of PHP allow developers to speed up the process of writing applications but at the same time, it reduces the memory consumption. However, Java applies various threads to manage and process multiple instruction sequences quickly and efficiently, therefore writing an enterprise application with Java is quite faster.
(Image Source: https://www.toptal.com/back-end/server-side-io-performance-node-php-java-go)
2. Java Vs PHP: Best Choice to Develop Enterprise Web Application
In a nutshell: When comparing Java Vs PHP for enterprise applications, Java is the first choice of programming language for the more extensive web applications.
Are you in any doubt that Which is better for web application Java or PHP?
Undoubtedly, PHP and Java both are the modular platforms, partly with free and partly with non-free licenses. However, PHP is suitable for small applications, and Java performs much better in larger web applications. Java Programming language is able to communicate with a large number of other systems including peer-web-services, databases, mainframe back-ends and databases all in the same application.
Furthermore, due to the better tool support, Java Frameworks are easier to install, well-documented and test artefacts.
3. Java Vs PHP: Best Choice Of Programming Language to Develop Enterprise Mobile Application
In a nutshell: According to the PYPL report, Java is the second most researched programming language leaving PHP at the 5th position.
Image Source :https://pypl.github.io/PYPL.html
The biggest reason to choose Java over PHP is that they work on a simple ?Write Once, Run Anywhere (WORA)? approach that helps java app development company to create applications in real-time.
While the forecast from Statista is showing a rapid trigger in the sales of smartphones from 2016 to 2020, it is expected to cross 1.6 billion by 2020, so businesses are simultaneously investing in the mobile enterprise applications as well.
With the rapidly increasing popularity of Java for mobile app development, it has become one of the two official programming languages for Android App development. Since PHP web development companies have to use specific frameworks to write a mobile application in PHP and need to invest additional time and efforts to write mobile enterprise applications in PHP.
On the other hand, Java developers can use this programming language to build mobile enterprise apps directly without any error.
Image Source: https://buildfire.com/programming-languages-for-mobile-app-development/
4. PHP VS Java: Which Language is More Secure?
In a nutshell: According to the research studies, both languages are popular for web application development, but Java has much better security reputation than PHP.
In today?s highly digitized era, where applications are much prone to malware attacks and application security is the pressing concern, many software development companies prefer to choose Java for web application development over PHP.
Undoubtedly, PHP is also a five most famous programming languages, but it lacks some of the built-in security features provided by other programming languages. Developers have to avail the security features and mechanism provided by other PHP frameworks to enhance the security level of the application built with PHP.
On the other hand, the latest version of Java comes with advanced security features to provide high-end protection to your enterprise application. Therefore, many developers choose Java over PHP to leverage the robust security features of this programming language.
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5. Java Vs PHP: Language Tool
In a nutshell: The ease of application development majorly depends on the tools supported by the programming language. And Java is the programming language that provides the best editing, debugging and packing tools over PHP.
When it comes to writing any level of application, Eclipse and Netbeans are the most popular IDEs used by software developers in a development environment. However, along with Eclipse and Netbeans, Java also supports Intellij, Notepad++, DOS editors and other text editors that ultimately enhance the efficiency of the developers to write an application without any hassle. On the other hand, PHP has a plugin for Eclipse and Netbeans.
Coming to the debugging capabilities, Java applications can be debugged by using all editors and make Java development much faster, more comfortable and fluent, whereas PHP only debug the print statements.
Besides, considering the packaging tool, PHP only uses packaging files, so there is no packaging concept here. On the other hand, Java supports various packaging tools including ANT, Maven, Editors, Web Start and more to ensure real-time web development.
6. Java Vs PHP: Which is Better and Easy To Learn?
In a nutshell: When it comes to learning the new programming language, it?s never been easy to understand any robust language in a short span with the steep learning curve. If you are familiar with the program and its initial hurdles, then it is pretty easy to write enterprise applications in Java.
As compared to PHP, Java is the language that uses the most straightforward syntax as similar to the English language with minimal symbols, making it easier for developers to read and write codes in Java.
Developers with the knowledge and experience of C++ or C will find Java quite similar in terms of syntax. Besides, people with the knowledge of Oracle and SCRUM can easily combine their skills with Java to develop web or mobile applications without spending long hours in learning this programming language.
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7. Java Vs PHP: Software Development Cost
In a nutshell: The software development cost with the PHP is lower than Java as it allows developers to use any code without paying any licence fee. However, despite being lower in cost, enterprises choose to develop an application with Java as it provides rich language tools for hassle-free editing, completing and debugging the application.
Java is neither free nor an open-source programming language, but Oracle allow users to choose from the several editions of Java including SE and EE for enterprise application development. But to access this programming language, you need to avail the license which ultimately adds up the cost to the development.
On the other hand, many developers opt for PHP because they don?t need to avail licence and make substantial investment in small and medium enterprises.
Java Vs PHP: Which Language Has A Bright Future?
No surprise in this fact that to survive in this cut-throat competition, businesses require a single thing- staying up-to-date with the latest technologies. And in this modern world, where 700 programming languages are available to empower you, choosing the one that will bring success and keep you ready for the future market is the nerve-wracking task for the developers.
While every language has its strengths and weaknesses. Well, both programming languages (Java and PHP)have severe benefits and support some of the world?s leading companies and largest websites, so it means both will go long in the future in the concern of Web Development.
However considering the below graph and increasing popularity, security concern and rich language tools, Java programming remains arguably the most demanding programming language among developers.
Image Source: https://codersera.com/blog/top-5-programming-languages-for-jobs-and-future/
Ending Note
Hopefully you enjoyed reading this post about increasing benefits of choosing Java over PHP for web development.
While both programming languages are widely used for enterprise web development, but with the introduction of many new modern and innovative languages in the last few years, Java has already secured its place mostly in the niche market and remains famous for enterprise and some of the Android development. Nonetheless, with the great features, usability and easy to learn approach of Java, many enterprises are favorable to hire Java app developers.
If you find Java really powerful , exciting and easy over PHP, then let us know in the comment box below which Enterprise application you will like to develop with Java.
