PHP Vs ASP
Discovered the world of PHP after years of wallowing in the world of ASP. While I am still basking in the honeymoon period, let me quickly evaluate PHP and ASP.
1. PHP is written by nerds for nerds. ASP is written for everyone. PHP uses the syntax of C, so all you C programmers out there, welcome to the world of web programming.
2. PHP is a wayyyy better language. The function libraries are simply mindblowing. Guess how many lines of code it took for me to accept an uploaded file with PHP? Just one. With ASP, I would have to find a server component, install the dll on the server, and then wade through the user manual to find the syntax!
3. PHP has function modules for almost every conceivable thing. For creating PDF files, for creating JPEG images (they had GIF functionality too, but someone who initially created the GIF standard decided to ask for royalties, so PHP has dropped those modules.), for creating flash movies (now that's really cool), for accepting uploads, and for using XML files.
4. Variables are really easy to use. Apart from the quirk which requires you to put a $ sign in front of every variable (probably a take off on the fact that almost everything is free), it leads to some really interesting ways of generating strings. You don't have to worry about terminating strings and then concatenating variabless them - just put the variable somewhere in the string, and as long as you don't forget the dollars (oops, the $ symbol), PHP will put in the variable data for you.
5. Strings are easier to handle using ASP. The vbscript functions for strings is way easier to use than in PHP, but after a while, I guess u get to know your way around such quirks.
6. Database access is quite different in PHP, but ASP uses a recordset approach to databases which is quite useful. The PHP way takes a while to get used to, but I find it much easier to use than ASP now. I guess, it's only a matter of choice in this matter.
7. You can use PHP with Macs. I love that.
This page was not made with a mac, but I wish it was...
The new 17 inch powerbook from Apple has the largest LCD screen for laptops and it is still an unbelievable 1 inch thick. Guess how much it weighs? 6.8 pounds! There isn't anything cool which the designers didn't think of, including firewire ports and compatibility with the IEEE 802.11g standard which Apple calls Airport extreme. The wireless connectivity blazes at an amazing 54 MBPS. Would they compromise on the drive? No, this one comes with a rewriteable DVD drive. Now that's what I call a computer!
