Not a slip of tongue

There, I said it. Of course, everyone has their preference when it comes to programming languages and there are many arguments for or against certain languages. But in the end, PHP is one of the greatest choices you can make. 

1. PHP is by far the most popular

PHP is by far the most popular when it comes to websites and web applications. According to w2techs.com it is even 78% for PHP compared to 10.6% and 3.7% for .NET and Java respectively.

Why is that? Java web applications are notoriously expensive to develop and maintain, while .NET applications enjoy many standard components, but customization is expensive and more complicated to create than PHP customization.

2. Modern PHP is extremely scalable

While PHP was Java's little brother 15 years ago, today it has become a serious alternative. Due to the shift to Full OOP (object oriented programming) it is as powerful as Java. Because of its Open Source origins, it is still supported by thousands of programmers every day. 

But today PHP is more and more used as an alternative to high performance web applications. While Java used to be the Go-To choice for such extreme requirements, today PHP is at least as powerful to set up and develop.

3. PHP developers are more affordable

The rates you pay for Enterprise Level programmers have increased tremendously over the last 10 years, and that's no different for PHP programmers. Yet PHP programmers are still a lot more affordable than Java or .NET developers. So you can count on a price difference of 5% to 20% when it comes to daily rates, depending on experience level.

4. PHP will always be better for web applications

PHP was always designed to function in the context of web applications, while Java is a general-purpose language and .NET, well, that remains of course a Microsoft framework. So PHP will always be better for creating web applications than the alternatives.

5. PHP evolves better and faster

As already mentioned, PHP has had a very nice growth in terms of number of users, flexibility and performance for many years. But the PHP community is a lot more active than the competition and will therefore be able to respond even faster to needs and requirements that will arise in the future.

Author: Joris De Groot
Strategic Director and Managing Partner
Joris De Groot

More insights

Address register & GEOpunt API

Have you ever had to decide whether you should use Google maps, openstreetmaps, or another GIS provider for address suggestions? If you only need Belgian addresses, be sure to read on!

Author: Noah Gillard
PHP / Laravel Developer
Noah Gillard AI generated Face
Logo vlaamse overheid

Next.js: Just another framework?

About every 10 years, new technology emerges that brings about a change in the way we develop software. Is Next.js this new technology?

Author: Dries Cappon
UX, Design, React.js, Next.js
Dries Cappon
Next.js

Laravel 10 release

The release of Laravel 10: The king of types. Alles wat je moet weten over de nieuwe major release!

Author: Noah Gillard
PHP / Laravel Developer
Noah Gillard AI generated Face
laravel 10 banner

Saloon - Package / SDK API integrations

API integrations for a range of services. Little to no reusable code? With Saloon you turn it into a compact/clean SDK/Package that you can reuse in all your projects and maintain in one place.

Author: Noah Gillard
PHP / Laravel Developer
Noah Gillard AI generated Face
Saloon hero image

Codana wins Digital Champ of the year award 2022

Codana is the winner of the FeWeb Digital Champ award 2022! 

Author: Joris De Groot
Strategic Director and Managing Partner
Joris De Groot
FeWeb Digital Champ award Codana

Life as a React developer at Codana: 1 year in service

"You can start working with us as a React developer!". Bliss! Needless to say, I was super happy to hear this! But, I had never written a line of React before.

Author: Thomas Timmermans
Frontend Developer
Thomas Timmermans
Ik na 1 jaar in dienst