Table of Contents
Introduction
Every business is looking to have a website or an app that is highly scalable, robust, and fully functional, to scale its operations and market presence. Everyone wants to have a solution that is based on the best available technology. There are many programming languages available in the market, and entrepreneurs often get confused, when choosing the right language for the development of their websites and web applications.
Every language has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. One must choose the language that fulfills all the requirements related to web development. We have already compared Python vs. Java earlier, and now it’s time to compare the three most popular programming languages, PHP, Python, and Ruby. This comparison will provide you clarity and help you in selecting the best language, for your website or web app development.
PHP vs. Python vs. Ruby
Each language was developed with a different intention, and purpose, and has its own benefits and limitations. Today, we have taken into account some of the most common factors, which are really helpful in choosing the right programming language for your web development.
To make things simpler, here is a compiled list of the factors, based on which we are going to compare Python, PHP, and Ruby:
- Purpose for development
- Advantages that each language offers
- Limitations with each language
- Based on Popularity
- Easy to use and learning
- Performance
- Community Support and Updates
Now, let us discuss these points in detail to have a clear understanding of each of the factors.
1. Purpose of Development
These programming languages are used for developing web applications and delivering comparable performance. Let’s discuss their purpose of development individually:
PHP
Hypertext Pre-processor i.e. PHP is a server-side programming language, which is widely used to develop scalable, dynamic, and robust websites and web apps for businesses. This general-purpose programming language was developed by Rasmus Lerdorf, in the year 1994, and can be used on all the major operating systems. PHP is used to develop fast, secure, and dynamic web pages, for all types of websites and web apps. There are a lot of PHP development companies available in the market, that can help build scalable websites and web apps for your business.
Python
Python is one of the widely used programming languages, developed by Guido van Rossum in the year 1991. It was mainly developed to focus on code readability, and its syntax facilitates developers to write those lengthy codes in very few lines. With its remarkable features, Python enables data analysis and data visualization. Python is an extremely efficient language, that is used to develop some outstanding and scalable websites and web apps.
Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails is a server-side web application framework based on the iconic Ruby. Ruby on Rails development services is mostly preferred for developing creative and interactive web apps for both large-scale and small-scale businesses. This web app framework offers a structure to the ROR developers for various codes they write. ROR is known to simplify repetitive tasks and makes them easy to do. If you are looking to get a highly scalable web app developed, here are some tips to hire Ruby on Rails developers, who can develop robust and interactive websites and web apps for your business.
2. Advantages that Each Language Offers
There are several advantages associated with each programming language. Following is the list of benefits of these languages:
PHP
- Being an open-source language, all the components of PHP are free to use.
- Websites and web apps developed using PHP can run on all the major operating systems, which is an added advantage as it saves both, time and money.
- When compared to other languages, PHP is very much easy to use and learn. It also makes the development process much simpler.
- With its built-in libraries, PHP can perform a lot of functions with ease.
- PHP is used to develop dynamic and highly efficient web pages that perform really well.
- It offers a fast processing speed and reduced loading time as it uses its own memory space. This enables websites with heavy data to perform efficiently.
- PHP can be easily integrated with the other current software and does not require re-coding for this.
Python
- Python is a very easy to write and learn programming language. It facilitates development using fewer codes as compared to other languages.
- This language comes with extensive libraries, which eliminates the need for writing manual code for everything.
- Python is an extensible and embeddable language, if required you can write code using C or C++ also.
- Python is the base for some of the latest technologies and has a bright future in IoT.
- Python is a free, open-source, and cross-platform programming language. It also facilitates WORA i.e. write once and read anywhere.
- Python also offers easy debugging, as compared to other languages.
Ruby on Rails
- ROR is an open-source, cross-platform web app framework.
- ROR framework is very much easy to learn, but it takes time to gain expertise in this language.
- ROR has a large and active community, which can be really helpful.
- ROR follows some of the best web development standards and practices.
- It has better code readability and requires lesser code to develop any solution.
- Most ROR development companies love developing web apps and websites using this framework as it provides a fast development process.
- Ruby on Rails can be easily integrated with other databases like MySQL, DB2, Oracle, etc.
Read More: Top PHP Frameworks to Use in 2022
3. Limitations with Each Language
Along with benefits, there are certain drawbacks that each programming language has. Check the limitations of these languages:
PHP
- PHP might not prove to be very good with error handling.
- PHP is considered to be less secure as compared to other programming languages.
- PHP is not considered the best suitable option to create large applications as it can be quite difficult to manage.
Python
- Since code written in this language is executed line by line, Python lacks speed.
- While Python is great as a server-side language, it lacks on the client-side and is rarely seen there.
- When compared to other big technologies, Python’s database access layers are a bit on the underdeveloped side.
- Python uses a large amount of memory space. So, for applications where memory optimization is required, Python is not a suitable choice.
Ruby on Rails
- ROR has limited informational resources and can be difficult for some developers.
- ROR is continuously evolving, in a way, it is a great benefit, but some developers, who are at the initial level, may find it difficult to keep themselves updated with these ongoing changes.
- ROR offers a slow runtime speed, as compared to the other frameworks.
- ROR developers believe this framework to be less flexible. With its default modules, developers find this framework difficult, to customize per the project’s requirements.
4. Based on Popularity
If we talk about popularity and market share, Python tops this criterion. According to Statista, Python is still the most popular programming language in the year 2020, with 29.9%, followed by PHP with 6.2% and Ruby with 3.7%. This clearly shows that Python has a large user base, as well as, a loyal developer base too. You can clearly see how PHP and Python rule the world of web development, with ROR gradually catching up with them.
Some of the most famous websites were developed using these frameworks. Apart from these, there are many more websites that have been developed using Python, PHP, and ROR.
There are many famous websites and apps that have been developed in the past using these languages. Wikipedia, Tumblr, WordPress, Canva, and Flickr are some of the famous websites developed using PHP. If we talk about websites and apps created using Python, we have Google, YouTube, Reddit, Quora, and Spotify on the list. Websites like GitHub, Groupon, Hulu, Shopify, and Goodreads are successful examples of ROR development.
5. Easy to Use and Learn
Usability is one of the most important parameters when choosing a programming language or a framework for the development of your website or web app. A language that is easy to use is more suitable for developing highly efficient and scalable websites and web apps.
In this case, PHP is the clear winner. PHP development services are highly preferred as one can easily develop an interactive interface using this server-side scripting language. Seeing its advantages, we can clearly say that it is very much capable of developing scalable and efficient software solutions for both, large-scale and small-scale businesses.
If we talk on the basis of learning, Python is one of the easiest languages to learn among these three, due to its very simple syntax. Developers find it easy to memorize and write code in it. Websites or web apps developed using Python require less coding as compared to others.
PHP is also easy to learn, but developers having prior knowledge of C, find it easier to learn. And if we talk about ROR, developers at the beginner level may find it a bit difficult to understand and learn.
6. Performance
Responsiveness, scalability, security, speed, etc. determine the performance of any programming language or framework. If we talk about scalability and Python rules in this department. Due to simpler syntax, one can create highly scalable and complex websites and web apps. You can hire Python developers, from the top web development company, and have experience in developing robust and scalable websites and web apps, for your business.
However, if we talk about speed, Ruby and PHP are above Python, as Python code is executed line by line. This slows down the execution process. Also, websites and web apps developed using Python require a lot of space.
In the case of security, websites and web apps developed in PHP are less secure than those ones developed using Python and Ruby on Rails.
If you are looking for memory-optimized websites with faster execution, you can hire PHP developers or ROR developers. However, if you are looking for scalability, Python is an optimal choice.
7. Community Support and Updates
Having good community support is very much important, as whenever you are stuck somewhere in the development process, there will be developers to help you in the community. Both PHP and Python have very strong community support and have some highly experienced developers, who are ready to help you in any situation. Due to this PHP and Python development services are highly in demand. ROR, being a newer edition to web development, is working towards building a strong community of developers.
If we talk about updates, every language keeps on evolving as per the latest trends and technologies. The latest versions are better than the previous ones and come with some new features. It is quite difficult to say which language has more updates, as each language has some outstanding features and all of them are continuously evolving.
Conclusion
For a website or web app to work perfectly, the programming language and the framework used for its development are really very important. One must always keep in mind that every language is different and performs differently. Each language comes with its own set of benefits and limitations, so you should go for the one that fulfills all your project’s requirements and seems to be the best-suited choice.
