A Better PHP Alternative for Web Projects?

PHP: it's the right choice for any and all web projects, right? Well, not necessarily.

There are many people and companies out there who may well be wondering whether PHP really is the best choice for their web projects, whether they are working on web applications, websites or something else entirely. Even PHP programmers who have been using the language for web development purposes for a long time may be wondering if there is a better programming language for them to consider.

Are you among them? Then you have come to the right place.

If you're about to start a web development project, chances are you think of PHP as the language you should use for server-side coding. And that makes sense. After all, PHP is an extremely popular language and an established tool with a proven track record of success. The language was released in the 1990s and certainly has longevity on its side and continues to be an important language in the web development space.

In fact, PHP is one of the most popular server-side programming languages ​​available for web development – ​​PHP code is used by 79.1% of all websites using this type of programming. It's an impressive number.

Therefore, seeing PHP as the ideal language for web development is no surprise. But is it necessarily the only choice – or even the best choice?

Should you consider an alternative programming language?

Of course, it's extremely popular. But at the same time, there are many people who still wonder if this is the best choice for their web development projects. There are numerous reasons for this, which may explain why they are looking for better alternatives to the tried and true PHP.

Are you part of this group that is considering alternatives? Then you have come to the right place. I'll give you a bird's eye view of the most popular alternatives to PHP and why you should consider them in web development and beyond.

Why wouldn't you use PHP?

But before I get to the alternatives, I feel I should start with the obvious question: why not use PHP, a good programming language that has proven itself time and time again? After all, we have already clarified the countless qualities and characteristics that the language has, and it has shown that it is a great choice throughout its many years of existence.

But, as I said above, there are a few reasons that might lead you to consider whether there might be better – or at least other – options out there. Maybe you have personal preferences for other languages ​​for whatever reason, or you may have had a bad experience using PHP in the past. Either way, it's natural to be curious about how you might code differently with other options in your arsenal.

Some people simply have preferences for other languages ​​rather than standard PHP, but beyond these personal perspectives and tastes, there may be additional motivations to look elsewhere. Some of the recurring reasons why many developers and companies reject PHP for web development or other purposes in favor of other languages ​​include the following:

• PHP is a forgiving language. To begin with, one of the most common opinions among web developers is that PHP is too forgiving of a language. This may seem good at first glance, but it actually means that the language is less focused, which allows PHP developers to avoid defining variable types when they are coding. This can easily lead to various errors that can cause various performance and security issues and which can be difficult to resolve in the future.
• Offers slow performance . While some developers may argue that PHP's out-of-the-box performance is decent enough, the reality is that PHP is quite slow to run. This is mainly because it is an interpreted language and not a compiled one. But that's not all – the forgiveness I mentioned above can also lead to problems with loops, cache usage, and string manipulation. As any developer will tell you, poor performance can derail an entire project or product and discourage users.
• There is a lack of a clear philosophy . This may be a more debatable opinion, but many people consider PHP to lack a clear approach to coding. For some, this is actually one of its strengths, because it means they can take PHP wherever they want and be creative and innovative in their approach. For developers who want independence and flexibility, this might be exactly what they're looking for. But on the other hand, for many others, this is a big problem because it can quickly become a hindrance that prevents PHP from actually helping developers during the development process and instead become a hindrance, leading to a slower, more complex and more complicated process. development process.

An experienced team or an outsourced PHP development company with enough projects under their belt can quickly navigate these issues and overcome them. But it is true that they require specialized professionals to do this, which means that PHP can become quite problematic in the hands of inexperienced developers. Therefore, if you don't have access to a specialized team, it's natural to look elsewhere.

Plus, it's never a bad thing to have other approaches and alternatives you can turn to. After all, the development space is an environment that demands constant and continuous innovation, and having a variety of tools, including multiple programming languages, to choose from means a better, more powerful system and approach.

So, in a nutshell, these are the reasons why some companies are looking for PHP alternatives like the ones I've included below.

The 7 Most Powerful PHP Alternatives

Here we will take a look at the 7 best PHP alternatives, the ones you should consider for any web development scenario. These are by no means the only options you might want to consider, but they are widely considered viable languages ​​for a variety of purposes, including web development.

Phyton

Advantages: Provides high performance, great for datasets and data analysis, built-in functions designed specifically for web development, ideal for machine learning algorithms, secure language

Disadvantages: Low memory consumption/poor efficiency, slow speed, some runtime errors, not the best choice for mobile app development

Java

Advantages: Offers the ability to build clean and structured code, less error-prone, portable, cross-platform, comes with many powerful frameworks to facilitate development, secure language

Disadvantages: No backup feature, low-level programming, long compilation, poor GUI

Go

Advantages: Simplified syntax, many efficient tools and features, easy to learn, offers ultra-fast, simultaneous garbage collection

Disadvantages: Time-consuming and relatively young error management is not perfect

JavaScript

Advantages: Full-stack language, extremely popular, huge community, high performance, attractive interfaces, simple, interoperable, many frameworks and tools available to support the development process

Disadvantages: Permissive, debugging is difficult, can be vulnerable on the client side

Ruby

Advantages: High development speed, debugging support, safe language, especially when used with Ruby on Rails, easy to maintain, dynamic language, simple and powerful frameworks, easy to use and beginner-friendly.

Disadvantages: Not as secure as some other popular languages, small community, slow performance

W #

Advantages: Modern, expressive, easy to use, widely applicable, stable, well designed, many free tools available to support development

Disadvantages: Some developers consider it a complex and steep learning curve, it depends on .NET

Elixir

Advantages: Scalable, functional, high-performance, fault-tolerant, concurrent, offers extensive documentation, interactive,

Disadvantages: Can be difficult to switch after using alternative languages, ecosystem is immature, relatively small community, somewhat expensive, must know Erlang to use it, slow processing speed

#1Python

One of the most popular programming languages ​​in the world, the much-loved Python is a highly powerful alternative to PHP for a wide range of web development projects. This is because it provides advanced functionalities for excellent performance, especially when it comes to processing and managing large data sets. This power becomes highlighted when your project includes numerous automation scripts and analytical systems.

Additionally, Python has an interesting set of built-in functions specifically tailored for web development that allow you to build your project quickly while reducing overall development costs. Finally, Python is one of the languages ​​used to develop machine learning algorithms, which means that your web project can become even more sophisticated with intelligent features.

It is important to note that Python is not just limited to the web development space. It has a huge number of applications and really shines in areas like data analysis. Therefore, Python is also an extremely versatile language.

#2Java

The other big contender in the programming world, Java is a strongly typed language that provides the discipline that developers lack with PHP. In other words, Java offers the ability to build cleaner, more structured code, which ultimately reduces the possibility of introducing errors that PHP is more prone to introducing (especially when in the hands of inexperienced engineers). ).

Highly portable and cross-platform, Java also boasts impressive performance thanks to parallel task execution and concurrency support. What's more – the language is better positioned when it comes to modularizing your web applications, which ends up impacting the ease with which you will create and update your applications. Finally, it is worth mentioning that Java has several powerful frameworks that make project development easier and faster.

Also remember that Java is comparable to PHP in terms of longevity, so it's another tried-and-true option to consider.

#3 Go

If you prefer to choose a newer option than Python or Java, you can always choose Go, also called Golang (as in Go Language), a relative newcomer to the web development field. Created and supported by Google, this programming language has a simple goal: to provide efficient tools and features to build highly scalable applications in the easiest way possible.

To achieve this goal, Go has a simplified syntax that nevertheless supports concurrency and task parallelism. This is especially useful when you are creating distributed applications, which are perfectly suited for optimal performance in cloud-based environments and corporate networks.

#4Javascript

One of the most popular languages ​​in the world, especially when it comes to web development, JavaScript emerged in the 1990s as a scripting language and cannot be omitted from a list of the best PHP alternatives — or even from any list of the main languages of programming for any purpose, period.

This versatile language is a powerful tool that many developers rely on when creating websites and web applications, which can be used for both back-end or server-side development and front-end or client-side development.

JavaScript has a huge and active community, offering plenty of support for new and experienced developers. It is also very easy to learn and offers cross-platform features. This is the tool you must have if you want to create any kind of dynamic product and bring it to life. Whenever you see animations, dynamic maps, charts, and any automated, eye-catching elements – those that make a website or application attractive – you usually have JavaScript to thank for it.

#5 Ruby

Ruby is another top PHP alternative to consider. Ruby is an excellent choice for beginners as it is user-friendly and easy to understand. Despite its simplicity, it is a powerful language that can streamline your web pages. It is also highly productive

Of course, anyone familiar with Ruby has heard of Ruby on Rails. Although it is not the only Ruby framework available, it is by far the most popular. In fact, it can reasonably be said that it is the world's most popular web framework for any programming language.

Ruby on Rails, also called RoR or simply Rails, has drastically expanded the language's capabilities, making it an even more powerful dynamic language.

#6C#

C#, pronounced C sharp, is an object-oriented programming language developed by Microsoft and is linked to the .NET framework. This means it has many useful libraries associated with it. Logical, well-designed, stable, intuitive and versatile, C# is growing in popularity, thanks to qualities such as ease of use, ability to be applied to various types of projects and elegance.

Of course, there's also the fact that it was developed and continues to be supported by one of the biggest technology giants in the world.

In terms of comparing C# and PHP, the first language is most commonly used for products that are not web applications, although it can be applied to a variety of projects. And when it comes to learning C#, if you already know how to code in languages ​​like C++ and Java, learning the language will be a breeze.

#7 Elixir

Elixir, relatively new to the scene created in 2012, is already widely applicable to various projects and products, such as blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) and more. Easy to learn and use with clean syntax, the language is considered highly accessible and scalable and offers many excellent attributes and qualities.

The Elixir ecosystem already has a lot to offer. And the language continues to be widely adopted by web programmers as a great alternative to PHP.

Choosing the right alternative

Before choosing the best PHP alternative, you must have a clear understanding of what problems are leading you to it. Why? Because the problems you have with PHP can be easily resolved with the right PHP development team by your side. Language experts can help you navigate the challenges and drawbacks and show you that the things that are pushing you towards PHP alternatives are not as complicated as you might think they are at first glance.

You must not forget the many attributes of this important language. PHP has a lot to offer, and even when you take into account its drawbacks and limitations, you should not dismiss it out of hand before trying to overcome the challenges with the best professionals by your side.

After trying to solve these problems, you may still want to use another programming language. This is perfectly normal, and luckily you have some pretty powerful options to use. It could also simply be that you don't always want to rely on PHP, and that's certainly okay too!

The 7 languages ​​we've listed and evaluated here are excellent choices and can help you easily solve many of PHP's known problems and challenges. This doesn't mean they are the only alternatives, but they are the best places to start your search for the right alternative.

If you liked this, be sure to check out our other PHP articles.

• 7 Best PHP Tables and Charts Libraries
• Top PHP Development Tools to Speed ​​Up Your Development Process
• PHP Developer Skills: Mastering the Essentials
• Which PHP frameworks should you use?
• 3 reasons why PHP is great for startups