Asp.net or php?

PHP, or if you’re really ambitious try out Python and/or Ruby on Rails.
I would stay oooooooh so far away from http://Asp.net though…it’s tied to MS and thus HAS to (by default of course) be evil.

I use PHP, as do Facebook, Digg and a bundle of other major websites. PHP has my vote.

I find PHP to be much easier to adapt to and it’s much more flexible. I find with ASP .net and it’s tutorials a lot is prebuilt for you which is boring when you want to learn how to program. With ASP .net as well you tend to learn the language that works behind it all to like C# or VB .net. I find a lot of people go with PHP and it does have a large following, PHP hosts are also much cheaper and easier to find (plus you can code in PHP and run PHP files on any machine, for free, whereas with the likes of ASP .net it’s very Windows dominated and you have to be able to set up IIS, I found Apache to be much easier to set up for testing purposes).

I’m saying this all from experience I code in VB .net, I’m looking into learning C# and I also code in PHP so my opinion isn’t terribly biased. Well, I do have a number of web-dev friends who are addicted to PHP and so that’s all I ever really here about.

But seriously, PHP is nicer language wise as it’s so flexible and it’s not handed to you on a platter like it is using Visual Studio (unf, I hate the pre-built ASP login controls, I want to do it myself, like PHP!) and PHP is used on many big sites. Saying that so is ASP .net. It’s a matter of choosing between flexibility, what you enjoy, what you can learn from it, what you look for in the future and so on and so forth.

I mostly use PHP. It is fast and will run on pretty much any host. And it is easy to find examples if you need help figuring something out.

And like Breefield said ASP is owned by Microsoft. I try to avoid closed technologies/platforms such as ASP as much as possible.

Ick. You might as well learn Java Servlets. Learn Python! It’s the wave of the future!

PHP, for sure. It’s really powerful, and you can always come to the wonderful world of Fluther for help and advice.

Thanks for your replies, I really appreciate it. See up until now I’ve been using ASP for anything I wanted to do, and for the most part it has worked fine for me, but I realize that there are better ways to go. So PHP it is for now I reckon.

Now I’ve another issue. I have a testing server for ASP but alas not for PHP. I know there have been threads relating to this in the past, but can anyone point me in the right direction on this topic. I’m not asking for you to come over and set me up (well, offers are welcome actually), but a push in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. I have XAMPP installed, but eh yeah, lost after that.

Damn you Microsoft. It’s all your fault.

If you’re on a Mac, give MAMP a try.

I appreciate that mate but I’m on PC.

I appreciate that! I’ve been looking for an all-in-one solution to use for when I reinstall OS X on this laptop. Don’t dissuade people from chipping in with suggestions that might help other readers. :)

Install each one individually. It can be a laugh setting it all up ;) haha, I kid, try WAMP if you’re not too sure about it all although XAMPP is fine from what I’ve seen. If you need any specific help with it just ‘note’ me and I can try and help. I’ve set up an Apache/PHP/MySQL server remotely before which was fun and interesting ;)

Wish I could understand ASP .net still though :(

@Richard
Im not dissuading anyone, simply pointing out I’m on a PC.

Skyrail. Dont be surprised if I take you up on that offer.

I’ll keep an eye out then ;)

If you’re on a PC with a good Linux distribution installed it should be easy to set up a webserver ;-)

Anyway, when it comes to PHP or http://ASP.net, definitely PHP. I haven’t even tried ASP (.net), but I’d go for nothing but open source. Ruby, Python, all probably fine, but not ASP. You don’t want to be so dependent on Microsoft (or most companies for that matter).

PHP!
asp is outdated and limited. (and made by microsoft)
php is opensource and gives you much more freedom.

Haha. ASP .net is not out dated wilhel, ASP is. And if ASP .net is so limiting how come sites like Dell, LEGO, MySpace, NHS, NewEgg and The London Stock Exchange all highly succesful sites and businesses use ASP .net, a large number of sites in Alexa’s top 500 globally are coded using Microsoft technologies, yes PHP also has a very large market share but I’m just showing that ASP .net isn’t dead, isn’t out dated and isn’t limited. Yes it has limitations, but so does everything on the planet. There’s only so much a single thing can do!

I’m not saying that ASP .net is the best language to code with, I’m not saying the Microsoft are the best company to go for, what I am saying is that stop swaying so far one way you can’t see the other side. It’s things like this which where it is best if you just ‘sit on the fence’ and have a general overview. And I agree with Vincentt, the best option would be to go Open Source as you’re then less likely to be affected by a single companies decision. I like open source and wish I could go entirely source but there are too many limitations in this day and age at this moment, there’s a long long way to go before someone like me can go completely open source.

As for comments about ASP .net, open your mind already, you talk of open source, the main thing that needs to be opened before software is people’s minds.

Sorry, i clearly misunderstood the question, but i’d still recommend php.

‘tis all good, I’m sorry if I came across as a bit ‘sharp’ but I have this weird spot that hurts when someone seems to kick away Microsoft as a bit of dirt, I agree they’re not the best around but it’d be nice if a lot of people saw the world with a more open mind, and yeh, I’d recommend PHP to :) I’m sure ASP .net would be worth it in one sense, but PHP allows more freedom in where you can actually run the application (so to speak). I’ll try not to come off as harsh again but :S I come across as all prickely when something like this comes up.

No hard feelings :)
I need to be put down to earth sometimes

I think we all do once in a while, I quite like that statement though…maybe I should adopt it some how ¬.¬