Which language should I choose for web development? PHP or Java?

With the progress of digitization, the technology for developing websites and apps is improving. To stay ahead in the highly competitive developing markets, developers are constantly striving to improve their programming language skills. Decisions are always difficult, and every developer faces this issue in their career when it comes to deciding whether to use PHP or Java.

Let MLTech Soft help you solve this PHP vs. Java dilemma with a detailed understanding of both languages. We'll start with the similarities and define the parameters for comparing these two popular languages.

1. What is PHP?

PHP stands for Personal Home Page, and we soon got a new description for Hypertext Preprocessor. It is a general-purpose language that can be embedded in HTML, an open-source server-side programming language. Rasmus Lerdorf said he introduced PHP in 1994, but it was fairly simple and different from his current version of PHP.

PHP is widely used for creating responsive portals, offers a wide range of frameworks for productivity, and is fast to use. Therefore, developers prefer PHP to build affordable and dynamic websites. Additionally, the standard PHP interpreter is supported by the Zend engine, which is released free of charge under the PHP license.

2/ Pros of PHP (Low development costs, HTML Interoperability, Extensive community support)

Low development costs

Cost is an important consideration for any business when it comes to web development. All versions of PHP are free licensed, helping you save money for your business. Combine this with reduced memory usage and general hardware requirements, and PHP's low cost is one of its main advantages.

HTML interoperability

PHP integrates easily with HTML when you need to add dynamic logic to your website's front-end pages. This makes it extremely flexible and allows for exciting and diverse websites.

Extensive community support

Over 28 years since its release, PHP has built a huge developer community, with extensive documentation for others to use and benefit from. This additional support makes PHP more stable and helps development teams always find the information and tools they need.

3/ Cons of PHP

Safety

PHP is insecure compared to Java. This is because it is open source. This often means that ASCII text files are readily available. However, they tend to patch security flaws in new releases. Overall, though, you should plan for security vulnerabilities in PHP if you have very sensitive data.

Developer popularity

When it comes to talent pools for specific languages, companies are all focused on the technology stacks that are most attractive to developers, ensuring that the adoption and maintenance of their applications are as smooth as possible. PHP is a very popular programming language, but Java has a slight edge. About 39% of developers use Java, but only about 26% are likely to choose PHP.

Bad error handling

There is a general belief in the developer community that PHP does not handle bugs very well. You don't have the debugging tools you need to troubleshoot code issues. There are debugging tools, but not as many as other programming languages ​​such as Java.

4/ What is Java?

Java is a cross-platform, class-based, general-purpose, high-level programming language. Java code is converted to bytecode using a compiler, while the Java Virtual Machine translates Java for use on multiple devices.

Java software is easily downloaded from java.com, and Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 8 is available to developers. It consists of the Java Platform Core classes that support the Java Platform Libraries, the runtime portion of Java software, and more. Java application development tools are available to developers as part of the Java Development Kit (JDK).

5/ Pros of Java

Safety

Java comes with a complete software development kit (SDK) and multi-platform runtime environment (JRE). This way, you can incorporate important security concepts to protect your data and systems in the early stages of web development. These security options are enhanced with each new release of Java and are of great benefit to large organizations where security is a key metric and a distinct non-functional requirement.

Automatic memory management

Java has its automatic memory management mechanisms that cover most of the memory issues that can arise in large enterprise applications. This is a great value for scaling web development and is ideal for large companies as well as startups looking to grow rapidly.

Cross-platform programming language

If using a language that is compatible with multiple platforms is a non-functional requirement for application or web development, Java is one option to consider. Its two-step life cycle mechanism (creation followed by interpretation) is one of its core features. This makes Java very useful for building versatile web applications.

Popular among developers

As mentioned earlier, Java is more popular among developers than PHP. The benefit of this is that it gives companies access to a larger talent pool when building a web development team.

Community support

Over 25 years on the market, Java has developed one of the largest developer communities. As such, there is a huge amount of support that you and your developers can turn to for advice, tips, and resources throughout the project.

Interoperability

Java has extensive interoperability with many APIs and databases. This reduces integration costs with various systems and helps with project budgets and schedules.

6. Cons of Java (Development Cost, Verbosity of Code, Lack of Native Desktop Look and Feel)

Development cost

Not all Java versions are free to use. Of course, this means it can be costly for businesses. Besides the licensing cost, Java also comes with additional costs. This is usually due to higher hardware requirements for memory and the CPU.

Code redundancy

Compared to PHP, Java has more "verbose" code. This means that more lines of code are needed for development and that bugs are more likely.

Lack of native desktop look and feel

Developers need to create graphical user interfaces in Java using various language-specific tools. Java can be weak when it comes to desktop UI and user experience. There are many GUI builders that developers can use for this, but this takes extra time and research.

7/ Finally, when should you use Java and when should you use PHP?

Comparing these two programming languages, it is difficult to decide which one is better for web development. Both are great tools, which is why they are so popular in businesses. The question is not so much "which one is better," but "when to use it."

For large companies building applications, the key non-functional requirements should be reliability, security, and high load. In this case, Java is the best option in terms of security, automatic memory management, and interoperability.

For startups, on the other hand, speed must be a priority. In this case, you need a lightweight and flexible programming language like PHP. PHP's low development cost, easy learning curve, and community support make it ideal for companies in this situation. The flexibility of these two programming languages ​​for web development also means that they are useful in different scenarios. PHP's speed and low cost can be useful for large companies testing proofs of concept, but startups may need Java's stronger security if their projects involve sensitive data.