[MadDog]

Im still using Classic ASP to program all my stuff, but i feel like its time to start learning a new language since Classic ASP is slowly dieing.

I can't decide what language to learn, PHP or ASP.Net.

Right now i am leaning more towards PHP since its closer to ASP and PHP runs on just about any OS. But im worried that if i go to PHP it would be harder to make any money off my products/scripts since most people that use PHP belive in the word FREE.

What do you think would be a easier and better language to start learning? And can you make any money in the PHP world off scripts?

[Christian]

I would go with PHP, like you said PHP is more like ASP and I think PHP has a greater fan base then ASP.net. I think that it is true that everyone wants a free script/program regardles of the programming language. The only thing that I can think that would be a problem with PHP is that PHP has so many free options, so you might have to lower your prices or you might have to make it better than any free one. When I first started to learn web programming I looked into ASP and ASP.net, but what turned me way was the lacked the support(Didn't know about Programming Talk at the time and was knida lazy....) and I lacked the funds to go buy a new web host(I don't have Win XP Pro to run IIS). Don't get me wrong I don't hate ASP.net I intead on learning someday.......Anyways that is just my 2 cents.

[End User]

Just look at the front page of HotScripts and you'll see what the most popular language is by far: PHP.

ASP (3,415)
ASP.NET (1,036)
CGI and Perl (4,500)
Java (1,681)
Python (114)
--------------------
total: 12,313

(ColdFusion wasn't included because I wouldn't program my dog's funeral notice in ColdFusion. I shouldn't have included Java either, but I didn't want to hear a lot of whining from the peanut gallery about how I'd "forgotten" it.)


PHP all by itself: 12,466. And keep in mind that almost all of theother languages listed above have been around longer than PHP, in some cases much longer (like PERL, which predates PHP by about a decade I think).

So, there are more PHP scripts listed than all the other scripting languages combined. That ought to tell ya something. PHP is it.

[NeverMind]

I think it's not about being a popular language or not IMHO.
what are you intensions? do you want to make big money doing enterprise projects? or do you want to make some moderate money yet with a huge fan base?
if you want the first option, go ASP.NET and of course ASP.NET by itself isn't a language and I suppose you know that! you'd have to learn either C# or Visual Basic.NET
C# is very similar in syntax with PHP as all other C languages.
PHP is very easy to learn and many many webhosts offer it. tho I read that it's not enterprise-ready yet! I said I read because I've never worked in that level yet.

so it really depend on your goals IMO.

[clancey]

Also, your choice depends on your target audience. With ASP you have been targetting Windows users, have you not? If you are not going to change, update your ASP skills.

Windows users do not generally expect to be able to see the source. You can learn PHP at the same time to try to create some complimentary projects for *nix boxes. Or free versions/projects intended to bring attention to your paid projects.

[End User]

Originally Posted by NeverMind

do you want to make big money doing enterprise projects? or do you want to make some moderate money yet with a huge fan base?
if you want the first option, go ASP.NET

I disagree. PHP usage is at least as widespread as ASP, and is being used for lots of enterprise-level applications. Huge fan base? PHP has it, and it's popularity here is a fairly good indicator of it's wide acceptance. I don't think that any particular language has any real advantage when looked from a purely commecial or money-making aspect, but if one did, I would recommend PHP. Portability is excellent, as PHP runs on practically everything. ASP is targeted at Windows servers, although there have been some 3rd-party apps that allow ASP to run under Linux/Apache. Microsoft will not, however, support ASP on Linux at all from what I understand.

PHP is very easy to learn and many many webhosts offer it. tho I read that it's not enterprise-ready yet! I said I read because I've never worked in that level yet.

Again, I have to disagree. PHP is not only ready for enterprise-level apps, it's being widely deployed as such too. And, yes, I have worked on and with a number of enterprise-level apps that use PHP exclusively as the back-end language.

I personally don't see any advantages to ASP over PHP, but I see several to using PHP over ASP. Portability is a key item, and resource usage is another.

[NeverMind]

PHP usage is at least as widespread as ASP, and is being used for lots of enterprise-level applications. Huge fan base? PHP has it, and it's popularity here is a fairly good indicator of it's wide acceptance.

you got me wrong! when I said "or do you want to make some moderate money yet with a huge fan base?" I meant that PHP has those and I am certine that PHP is at least twice popular than ASP/ASP.NET

I don't think that any particular language has any real advantage when looked from a purely commecial or money-making aspect, but if one did, I would recommend PHP.

yes, true. but it seems that most enterprises think that when something is expensive is better and of course with Microsoft products they can contact a company for support but for open source, you don't have a standerd place to ask IMO and enterprises don't like that AFAIK.
and this doesn't mean that I see anything wrong with PHP or any other open source project and I am actually a PHP programmer and I love it.

Again, I have to disagree. PHP is not only ready for enterprise-level apps, it's being widely deployed as such too. And, yes, I have worked on and with a number of enterprise-level apps that use PHP exclusively as the back-end language.

ok, I can't say that there are no enterprise-level apps made with PHP but I think ASP.NET is progressing very good with its fantastic framewrok.

I personally don't see any advantages to ASP over PHP, but I see several to using PHP over ASP. Portability is a key item, and resource usage is another.

that is true for ASP, but for ASP.NET I have to disagree. tell me of a complete decent framework that will ease the work for PHP programmers in enterprise-level? I know of a few frameworks but they aren't mature yet. in the other hand, you have this amazing .NET framework.

[King Coder]

I'm biased towards JSP, but that's because I know it. A lot of major companies are switching (if not already using) to JSP because of it's extensive power and security. JSP programmers make A LOT of money, but it requires knowledge of other technologies. Java is simply better in Object Oriented features, code packaging, multi-threading, and security. If I had to choose between the ones you posted, I would go ASP.NET and not even think about PHP.

[Skeleton Man]

Originally Posted by MadDog

I can't decide what language to learn, PHP or ASP.Net.

Right now i am leaning more towards PHP since its closer to ASP and PHP runs on just about any OS. But im worried that if i go to PHP it would be harder to make any money off my products/scripts since most people that use PHP belive in the word FREE.

I wouldn't say PHP is automatically associated with free.. there are a large number of free products out there, but there are also plenty of commerical ones.

Originally Posted by MadDog

What do you think would be a easier and better language to start learning? And can you make any money in the PHP world off scripts?

I would opt for PHP.. ASP to me says "Windows Only", whereas PHP will run on just about any platform.. 95% of the time your scripts will run cross-platform without any problem.. (you can develop on windows and run on a *nix production server, or vice versa)..

PHP is extremely easy to learn.. I picked up the basics in a matter of weeks.. within a few months I was confident enough to write my own small programs.. and the documentation is wonderful !

I can't vouch for the rest of the programming world, but I personally make my living off custom work for clients.. (ie. someone approaches you and asks if you can develop product xyz for their company).. that IMO is where the money is in PHP.. not in volume sales of pre-written software..

I would also reccomend learning Perl and C.. (I have yet to do the latter myself, but the syntax of both is very simmilar to PHP)..

[Skeleton Man]

Originally Posted by King Coder

I'm biased towards JSP, but that's because I know it. A lot of major companies are switching (if not already using) to JSP because of it's extensive power and security. JSP programmers make A LOT of money, but it requires knowledge of other technologies. Java is simply better in Object Oriented features, code packaging, multi-threading, and security. If I had to choose between the ones you posted, I would go ASP.NET and not even think about PHP.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but while Java has obvious security and other benifits, the same could be said for C or any other compiled language. I studied Java a few years ago for a little while and found it somewhat more difficult to learn than PHP.

Java/JSP is a great technology in the right hands, it just comes with a steeper learning curve than PHP, Perl, etc..

I'm glad you mentioned multi-threading.. that's about the only thing PHP lacks, multi-threading support.. (you can use pcntl_fork() on unix if the PHP interpreter is running from CGI/command line.. and windows has no support for threads at all !)