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.NET vs Symfony: What are the differences?
Key Differences between .NET and Symfony
1. Framework and Language:
- Symfony is a PHP web application framework that follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern. It is specifically designed for PHP developers to build robust web applications efficiently.
- On the other hand, .NET is a multi-language framework developed by Microsoft. It supports various programming languages such as C#, VB.NET, and F# and provides a powerful platform for building applications across different platforms.
2. Ecosystem and Community:
- Symfony has a rich ecosystem and an active community of developers contributing to the framework's growth. It offers numerous plugins and bundles that extend its functionalities, making it easier to integrate with other libraries and frameworks.
- .NET also has a large ecosystem, supported by Microsoft and a vibrant community. It provides a wide range of tools, libraries, and frameworks for different development scenarios, such as ASP.NET for web development and Xamarin for mobile app development.
3. Development Approach:
- Symfony follows an open-source philosophy, allowing developers to contribute to its core and build reusable components. It emphasizes convention over configuration, providing standardized practices for development, which helps in maintaining code readability and consistency.
- .NET primarily relies on the Microsoft ecosystem and follows a more opinionated approach. It provides a unified development environment and promotes the use of Visual Studio as the primary IDE. It offers extensive tooling support for developers, making it easier to work with the framework.
4. Cross-Platform Compatibility:
- Symfony is a PHP-based framework that runs on various web servers and supports multiple operating systems. It can be used on Windows, Linux, and macOS, making it highly versatile and accessible for developers across different platforms.
- .NET is a versatile framework that supports cross-platform development through its .NET Core runtime. It allows developers to build applications that run on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Additionally, it provides seamless integration with cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure.
5. Performance and Scalability:
- Symfony leverages PHP's performance enhancements and optimizations to ensure efficient execution of web applications. However, due to the nature of PHP, it may face scalability challenges for high-traffic applications compared to other compiled languages.
- .NET, being a compiled language, offers better performance and scalability compared to PHP-based frameworks like Symfony. It utilizes Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation and provides a rich set of performance optimization tools, enabling developers to build highly scalable applications.
6. Learning Curve and Skillset:
- Symfony requires knowledge of PHP and the understanding of Symfony's conventions, components, and best practices to develop applications effectively. It may have a steeper learning curve for beginners who are new to PHP and its related ecosystem.
- .NET provides a more structured and guided learning experience for developers. It offers comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and a vast knowledge base, making it easier for developers to get started with the framework. Additionally, as it supports multiple languages, developers with prior experience in C# or other .NET languages can leverage their existing skills when working with .NET.
In summary, while Symfony is a PHP-based web application framework known for its flexibility and community-driven ecosystem, .NET is a multi-language framework supported by Microsoft, offering a unified development environment with better performance and scalability. The choice between the two frameworks depends on the specific requirements, skillset of the development team, and the target platform.
Hello, I am trying to learn a backend framework besides Node.js. I am not sure what to pick between ASP.NET Core (C#) and Spring Boot (Java). Any advice, any suggestion is highly appreciated. I am planning to build only Web APIs (no desktop applications or something like that). One thing to mention is that I have no experience in Java or C#. I am trying to learn one of those 2 and stick to it.
UPDATE: The project I am trying to build is a SaaS using microservices that supports multi tenancy.
I'd recommend to learn Spring as it is very widespread in the industry and provides a lot of easy integration into most of the common backend tech stacks. Rather than learning Java you could look into Kotlin. It's a very consistent, stable and well-thought language in my opinion and not as verbose as Java. Many problems can be solved with Kotlin in a clear and elegant way while also always having the option to use data structures and libs in JVM. It is also has a very good support in Spring.
I have worked in a Spring environment for many years and I still love working with it. Super quick to get a base application running and get coding, thanks to Spring Boot's easy and straight forward integration with Tomcat. However, I will try and answer this question from another perspective: look at topics such as popularity of the language, average statistics on community contribution to their repositories and hiring availability from companies. If you are going down the API route for backend, leverege on your experience in the Node world by looking into ExpressJS (or even NestJS). The JavaScript world is really excellerating at a lightning speed, and I could recommend exploring those worlds a bit more, should it be a comfort level for you. However, my biased answer is tryout Java, followed by Spring afterwards. No disrespect to any .NET developers out there, as there are a few topics in there which are fantastically implemented.
Hi everyone! I'm starting a personal project that I've been postponing for a little while and I need a bit of advice. I thought that it will be a bit of a challenge but I figure the best way to learn is by doing!
The plan is to build an app with loads of automation build in for reporting which would make it very easy to perform tasks, The plan is to build something similar to an HR app using microservice architecture, separating services e.g. employee data, payroll (including calculations based on easily entered info like tax %), employee services (vacation, sick day allowance booking and tabulation) and automated reporting on a pre-defined schedule (bi-weekly, monthly).
I am considering Django (as I currently know a bit of Python) and Symfony (as a friend who is a developer recommended it) but I am well aware there are other (and probably better) tools out there for the job (like maybe ExpressJS/Node.js for the backend and React/Vue.js for the front).
Background:
I have got knowledge as a DevOps, Site Reliability and Cloud engineer so once the app is built I'm very comfortable taking it to deployment.
Thank you all for your help and responses.
Hi. I guess it all depends on what your goal is. If you wanna make fast prototyping Django or ExpressJNodeJS might be really good candidates. You can write your services quickly and easily by using anyone of them. Maybe we can also put Laravel in the same category.
Symfony is also another application framework that comes with many reusable components. It provides great flexibility with the configuration and dependency management solutions. So that you can inject or override anything, anytime without doing something hack-ish. You don't have to depend on any components that come with the framework and, replace them with whatever you prefer unless encounter any integration issues. I can say that Laravel also provides most of the Symfony futures as it uses its components under the hood. However, my personal experience with Laravel was not so good because it made me feel like I use a modernized version of Codeigniter. But anyway. :) So if I have to choose one of them, I would choose Symfony.
From the backend perspective, all of those have some pros and cons. For example, If strict type declaration is important for you and you don't like code magics like monkey patching etc., maybe Python and NodeJS might not be good candidates and maybe you could choose Symfony/php. However, in this case, you'll be missed out on the most powerful future of NodeJS which is non-blocking io. if you plan to do IO-intensive works, I think it would be a big loss.
So, maybe I can recommend you to have a look at typescript + NestJS also. https://nestjs.com/ The futures that NestJS provides might be a good balance between the strengths of Symfony and NodeJS.
As I'm backend dev., I haven't work too many frontend projects but from my personal experience, I loved ReactJS more than Vue although Vue was simpler. Maybe a front-end developer can give us more helpful details about those.
Hope it helps.
Hey everyone, I am a backend developer who specializes in Java and Spring Boot having an experience of 4 years. And due to my shift in the project, now I need to deal with the .NET Core technology, as a Java developer before I need to know where to start in order to support the project and build REST API.
Can I get advice on how to move on to the new backend stack and what to learn and how to get hands-on with the .NET?
IMHO I think it is the best framework to build software on. Since you are coming from Java, It should not be too difficult to adjust to C#. NET Core has come a long way. NET6 is just amazing. With the minimal API, https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/minimal-apis?view=aspnetcore-6.0 REST API should be very easy work for starters. When you settle in, you can go more advanced.
Although this is dated - https://download.microsoft.com/download/D/E/E/DEE91FC0-7AA9-4F6E-9FFA-8658AA0FA080/CSharp%20for%20Java%20Developers%20-%20Cheat%20Sheet.pdf it provides you side by side comparison of syntax. Another cool read is - https://betterprogramming.pub/java-to-c-c-to-java-f766c9f659c4
Feel free to reach out if you need any assistance.
Welcome aboard
You will find that the transition from Java to C# is pretty smooth. Working with .NET has become much more intuitive and has a lot to offer. I highly recommend using Visual Studio as your IDE. It makes things much easier and is not too different than other IDEs like IntelliJ. There are also Visual Studio templates for web APIs that make it really easy to get up and running. Microsoft has good documentation and tutorials to help you get familiar with the technology. I would start there.
I would recommend that you become familiar with the C# language. J. Albahari's reference book is suitable for this. To learn rest api development, read Andrew Lock's book "Asp Net Core in Action"
Hi everyone, I have a new venture project, we do frontend development mainly with Tailwind CSS, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and React. This project will run on a cloud platform and it will be a web platform with data analysis. At Backend, we can't decide which technology to continue with. We will necessarily use Python for data analysis and algorithms, but should the backend be written with Django or C# .NET, can I get your suggestions within the cloud platform? Price performance is our priority.
If you are already committed to Python for the data analysis then it would make sense to use Django for the framework and stick with Python throughout. In general the fewer technologies you use (unless there is real justification) will improve process and long term costs.
All things being equal the fact you would not have less (likely no) licensing costs with a Python based solution will overall reduce your long term costs.
If you will be doing data analysis and complex algorithms Django is best suited for this because of it' maturity and the huge communities providing lots of Python libraries for data analysis and more.
I'm working in a university in the IT department where they are developing web Apps with a .NET framework, and I'm starting a master course with python (python programming, ML, AI, NLP, and Django). My manager doesn't mind using any technology. Please guide me. Should I go to learn .NET with Django or stick with Django? What is the best for the future?
Since the course is in Python, a Python web framework seems like a logical choice. Django is a good option, but Flask and FastAPI are far more lightweight than Django, and great for quickly adding an API on top of your ML/NLP code. Django has its merits, especially the generated admin interface, but requires a lot of boilerplate code.
The one thing I wouldn't do is mix the two, different structures and ideas for how to do things
Taking a class in python already? I'd lean to Django Want to learn a language that will carry forward to a good paying job .net
Python is an excellent language, though it's often being replaced with things like go which uses a similar syntax
Over time you're going to learn many languages if you want to be a great programmer spend your time with one and dive deep, learn what makes it shine and what the draw backs are grow proficient with it and then consider learning something different so you can compare
Early on learning a single language at depth is more important than tinkering with several or learning any specific language
Good luck
I'm about to begin working on an API, for which I plan to add GraphQL connectivity for processing data. The data processed will mainly be audio files being downloaded/uploaded with some user messaging & authentication.
I don't mind the difficulty in any service since I've used C++ (for data structures & algorithms at least) and would also say I am patient and can learn fairly quickly. My main concerns would be their performance, libraries/community, and job marketability.
Why I'm stuck between these three...
Symfony: I've programmed in PHP for back-end in a previous internship and may do so again in a few months.
Node.js: It's newer than PHP, and it's JavaScript where my front-end stack will be React and (likely) React Native.
Go: It's newer than PHP, I've heard of its good performance, and it would be nice to learn a new (growing) language.
Go with Node.js. There's something really satisfying about being able to use a single language across your entire tech stack. Especially once you integrate GraphQL, which is effectively JSON.
Your second best option is Go, but the ecosystem around Node.js is quite a bit stronger. This will play a big factor when you start building functionality like file management, messaging (especially in real-time), and authentication. The libraries and documentation are just stronger for Node.
For a full-stack app or just simple APIs I'd go 100% with Laravel. You get a clean architecture, beautiful documentation and friendly and always growing community: the project is yours, from A to Z. With their docs and resources like Laracast you can start from zero and build what you want, when you want. The learning curve is definitely smaller when compared to Symfony and, with the help of a bit of "magic" (Facades etc.) you get the same results in the half of the time with cleaner code.
Node Js have worked incredible great for me on every project I had. It is fast enough to support big and small apps, you do not have to worry about performance, because it is very capable of building a big REST API.
One advantage is that the learning curve is lower when you have used javascript on web browser as frontend, so, it is easy to migrate from Frontend to Backend with node.
Node Package Manager (NPM) has an incredible amount of packages from many developers, so you can use them on your project as you need them.
Code is easy to support, way different than Java Legacy code.
I was considering focusing on learning RoR and looking for a work that uses those techs.
After some investigation, I decided to stay with C# .NET:
It is more requested on job positions (7 to 1 in my personal searches average).
It's been around for longer.
it has better documentation and community.
One of Ruby advantages (its amazing community gems, that allows to quickly build parts of your systems by merely putting together third party components) gets quite complicated to use and maintain in huge applications, where building and reusing your own components may become a better approach.
Rail's front end support is starting to waver.
C# .NET code is far easier to understand, debug and maintain. Although certainly not easier to learn from scratch.
Though Rails has an excellent programming speed, C# tends to get the upper hand in long term projects.
I would avise to stick to rails when building small projects, and switching to C# for more long term ones.
Opinions are welcome!
Decided to change all my stack to microsoft technologies for they behave just great together. It is very easy to set up and deploy projects using visual studio and azure. Visual studio is also an amazing IDE, if not the best, when used for C#, it allows you to work in every aspect of your software.
Visual studio templates for ASP.NET MVC are the best I've found compared to django, rails, laravel, and others.
Pros of .NET
- Tight integration with visual studio272
- Stable code261
- Great community190
- Reliable and strongly typed server side language.182
- Microsoft140
- Fantastic documentation119
- Great 3rd party libraries89
- Speedy80
- Great azure integration71
- Great support63
- Highly productive34
- Linq34
- C#34
- High Performance31
- Great programming languages (C#, VB)28
- Open source26
- Powerful Web application framework (ASP.NET MVC)19
- Fast16
- Clean markup with razor16
- Powerful ORM (EntityFramework)15
- Dependency injection14
- Visual studio + Resharper = <310
- Constantly improving to keep up with new trends10
- High-Performance9
- TFS8
- Security8
- Job opportunities7
- Integrated and Reliable7
- Huge ecosystem and communities7
- Light-weight6
- Lovely6
- {get; set;}5
- Variations5
- Asynchrony5
- Scaffolding4
- Support and SImplicity4
- Default Debuging tools4
- Concurrent4
- Useful IoC4
- Entity framework4
- Nuget package manager3
- Blazor3
- F♯2
Pros of Symfony
- Open source177
- Php149
- Community130
- Dependency injection129
- Professional122
- Doctrine80
- Organized75
- Modular architecture71
- Smart programming47
- Solid45
- Documentation20
- LTS releases16
- Decoupled framework components10
- Robust10
- Easy to Learn10
- Good practices guideline8
- Service container8
- Bundle8
- Powerful7
- Simple7
- Flexible6
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Cons of .NET
- C#13
- Too expensive to deploy and maintain12
- Microsoft dependable systems8
- Microsoft itself8
- Hard learning curve5
- Tight integration with visual studio3
- Not have a full fledged visual studio for linux3
- Microsoft itself 🤡🥲1
Cons of Symfony
- Too many dependency10
- Lot of config files8
- YMAL4
- Feature creep3
- Bloated1