Python Vs PHP: Is There a Clear Winner in 2021 After Years of Battle?
By: Ajay Kapoor
Tags: PHP, Python, Web Development, Backend Development, Programming

There is a constant battle in the web development world. Python Vs. PHP, a non-stop war that has been going on for years. It’s always been a tough choice between these two leading technologies.

Both developers and businesses are always seen as confused when it comes to choosing between Python and PHP. Every forum has dozens of questions about which technology is better.

It’s an eternal question, and in the growing digital age, you can’t take a risk with the wrong decisions because it hardly takes about 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion about a website. These 0.05 seconds can make or destroy your business if your website is not up to the mark.

According to the Internet Live Stats, there are currently over 1.86 billion online websites with around 4.72 billion users worldwide. The number is still growing day by day, and to secure your business’s future in the market, you need a perfect website.

But don’t panic, I have a perfect guide for you. In this blog, you will see a detailed comparison of Python and PHP, which will help you select the right technology for your business according to your requirements.

So, let’s start the technological drive of Python Vs. PHP and find out the winner.

#1. Ease of Installation

The PHP installation process is easy. It installs and works nicely on macOS X, Windows, and Linux. It’s also available on many shared hosting websites at lower prices worldwide.

If you are planning for a simple and small app, PHP is the best choice.

In contrast, installing Python is a bit critical. It becomes more complex on macOS X when you already have a different Python installed on your system.

The other disadvantage is that this already existing Python version may become outdated, so you can’t use it further for app development. Even if you try installing different packages, you will have to install Python’s new version.

The process becomes utterly frustrating.

Additionally, you will face similar kinds of problems while installing it on windows. To avoid such risks, use the Chocolatey package manager.

Though, Linux users will not face any problem while installing Python on their system.

Winner — PHP

#2. Easy to Learn

PHP is best for developing complex and advanced web applications. The language’s syntax is similar to C, C++, Java, and Perl. Its variable names are case-sensitive. It ends statements with a semicolon and uses whitespaces and newlines like a free-form language.

For this, you have to add prefix variables with $, use curly braces and the → operator to show a method. Overall, it is pretty time-consuming to learn PHP. Though, the developer community is working to make the learning curve easier.

Whereas Python is easy to learn, even a beginner can quickly get started with it. It’s easily readable with uncluttered formatting, simple syntax, and plain English words instead of being cluttered with punctuation.

Python doesn’t use curly braces for delimiting blocks; it uses white-space indentation. It provides an accurate visual structure to its semantics. Apart from this, it includes the occasional use of semicolons and contains fewer exceptional cases plus syntactic exceptions.

All these make Python’s learning curve easy and shorter. Additionally, it leaves room for error because the principal codes don’t break in small mistakes. That’s why various programming courses use Python to explain programming fundamentals to trainees.

Winner — Python

#3. Performance & Speed

According to an Unbounce report, 79% of online customers face trouble with website speed and overall performance, leaving a negative impression on customers.

Therefore, while developing the applications, you have to keep their speed in mind. A website or app that loads within 2–3 seconds is considered best.

By prioritizing the speed and performance, you should choose between Python and PHP.

The older versions of PHP were slow, including PHP 5.x, which took a lot of time in the code’s execution. But now its latest version, PHP 7.x, has improved significantly; it seems like PHP’s team has worked on speed and performance more this time. The newest version is 2x faster than the previous one and is thus being used by top PHP development companies.

Similarly, Python’s code compilation process is quicker without installing any caching system. When you create and modify a file, it converts the code into byte code. It was way faster than PHP until PHP 7.x came into the market.

Shorter delays can significantly impact your system’s performance. For example, if you’re creating a banking system, which can receive a vast amount of traffic daily, it should be exceptionally fast. In such a case, you should choose PHP 7 over Python.

However, if you want to develop a simple application where speed and time are not a particular concern, you can use both programming languages.

Winner — PHP

#4. Flexibility, Scalability, & Versatility

As your business grows, the user base also increases. Therefore, you need a scalable application that meets the customer’s demand.

The scalable app also offers better flexibility to businesses depending upon its customer demands and traffic during the peak seasons. It should also provide you the option to scale up and down based on the market demands.

Talking about the two competitive technologies Python and PHP, these are competent enough to develop applications with wide-ranging frameworks and libraries.

PHP supports powerful frameworks like Laravel, Symfony, etc. Here you won’t face any problems during the development, testing, and management process.

But Python has the edge over PHP with its machine learning and artificial intelligence, and machine learning quickly adapts to new trends and scales according to the demand.

By contrast, PHP is less flexible with the trend and growing market demands, even after significant improvements in its latest version.

Python also provides many web frameworks, and it has better library support. It has frameworks like Django and Flask, which are highly scalable, secure, and fast.

Whether you want to use independent and decoupled components or deploy machine learning models to create an app, Django is always there for help. You can unplug or replace these components depending upon the changing business requirements.

Due to its simplicity and versatility, Instagram uses the Django framework. It helps this popular social media site in catering to its millions of users every day without hassles.

Winner — Python

#5. Security

Cybersecurity is one of the most important concerns of the online world. Cyberattacks are evolving with the latest technology advancements, such as cross-site scripting (XSS), DDoS attacks, phishing scams, malware injection, and more.

According to the Varonis report published in March 2021, 8% of global organizations faced spearfishing attacks in 2019. Do you know what? 95% of all cybersecurity breaches have occurred only due to human error.

That’s why we have to take security seriously for web and app development. You should choose the right plus most secure programming language that can provide better protection and avoid future data loss.

For this, Python is the right choice; it’s more secure than PHP. It contains many security features that you can use to create complex apps with high-end functionality and definite goals.

According to one of the online studies, Python is one of the most secure programming languages.

For instance, Python supports Django, which comes with advanced security features that protect your apps from many severe threats. That’s why many government and banking institutions are using Python to build their robust applications with extra security layers.