There is a lot of confusion when it comes down to choosing NodeJS and PHP as they both are frequently and are constantly in demand.
See PHP is very old therefore very popular when compared to NodeJS but the rate at which popularity of NodeJS is increasing is far greater than PHP at this point. And one thing to note here is that we are trying to compare a programming language (PHP) and a runtime environment (NodeJS).
Yes, NodeJS is not a programming language; rather it’s a runtime environment which has everything required to run a program written in JavaScript.
Use Cases
Both PHP and NodeJS can be used as backend but they both have their respective areas where they shine. Suppose you want to build a blogging website then the best option will be to use PHP as it’s easier. Likewise it’s better to use NodeJS if you are building an application which requires communicating with client and server. NodeJS is best suited for single page applications.
One Language
The JavaScript everywhere paradigm is quite popular these days. Developers just like to use JavaScript in every aspect whether it is frontend or backend. You never have to use two different programming languages to do the work. It’s all one language that you have to learn and you learn well and if you think about it, this also saves a lot of learning time as you learn JS and you are good to go for NodeJS.
However when you are using PHP it’s not that simple PHP is only used for backend so you have to learn JavaScript anyways.
The Frameworks
Both Node and PHP have a lot of frameworks and for PHP it’s a must to know one framework at least or you’ll be having a hard time getting a job.
JavaScript has a lot of frameworks and libraries and they are so good for client side scripting. Imagine you use Angular or React for client side and then NodeJS for server side basically meaning it’s all just one language that everyone is coding in and there will be no problem in managing the team as well as the application itself.
Although JavaScript is single threaded but it’s a lot faster when you see it in action they handle the client side requests so well.
The V8
NodeJS is built using V8 which is Google’s JavaScript interpreter meaning NodeJS can tap directly into it and it has far greater performance than others and the bright side is v8 keeps getting updated so is NodeJS.
Popularity
There are a lot of popular companies that use NodeJS as well as PHP but there’s a slight difference where NodeJS’ popularity is on the rise and PHP’s is at decline as more and more developers are moving towards Node. Now it’s not that PHP will just vanish in a few years or so. No, that’s not going to happen. As of this moment more than 70 percent of all the websites use PHP as their backend which is a lot.
Competition
One thing to note here is that PHP was developed in a way that anyone can easily learn which means that there is a lot of competition. But still it’s not like you won’t get a job easily you will as PHP has its root so deep like nearly all the CMS use PHP as their backend language. Still consider this since a lot of developers know PHP there will always a lower pay for a PHP Developer when compared to NodeJS Developer
Advantages
- NodeJS is scalable both vertically and horizontally, you can create n numbers of nodes or resources.
- Due to Google’s v8 JavaScript engine NodeJS is very fast and gives top notch performance.
- It is flexible since changes only apply to a particular Node.
- Single Language across all ends.
- NodeJS has a very efficient caching process.
- Everything can be done with NPM.
- Cross Platform
- Real Time Communication with the user and server.
- It has a very active community.
- Easy to learn.
Disadvantages
- Node does not handle CPU bound tasks very well.
- Hosting can be a challenge since it’s not supported by every hosting provider.
- Call back can create infinite loop cycles.
- Weak library systems some integrations are quite challenging like XML parsing.
- There are a lot of npm packages which makes it difficult to identify a good package.
Popular Companies
There are very big companies that use NodeJS now such as
- Netflix
- Uber
- PayPal
- NASA
- eBay
- Medium
- Mozilla
- Go Daddy
Node JS developer Salary and Job opportunities in last few years
Conclusion
If you are just entering the field then it’s better to go with the flow and learn new technologies as there are more job opportunities and remember these technologies are updated very often so always keep checking for updates and changes.
Here are some of the NodeJS courses provided by Web Development Institute in Delhi or you can explore complete list of web design courses:
Node.js Master Plus – 3 Months
Node.js Master Course – 2 Months
Node.js Standard Course – 1 Month
