PHP vs WebAssembly

Overview

PHP

Stacks147.4K

Followers82.9K

Votes4.6K

GitHub Stars39.6K

Forks8.0K

WebAssembly

Stacks223

Followers218

Votes0

GitHub Stars8.2K

Forks818

PHP vs WebAssembly: What are the differences?

Introduction

WebAssembly is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine. It is designed as a portable target for the compilation of high-level languages like C, C++, and Rust, enabling deployment on the web for client and server applications. On the other hand, PHP is a popular general-purpose scripting language that is primarily used for web development. In this Markdown code, we will discuss the key differences between PHP and WebAssembly.

Execution Environment: In PHP, code is executed on the server-side using a PHP interpreter, and the output is sent to the client's browser. WebAssembly, on the other hand, is executed in a client's browser using a runtime engine, like a JavaScript engine, providing faster execution and reducing the need for round trips to the server.
Language Support: PHP is specifically designed for web development and has a wide range of built-in functions and frameworks for web applications. It is easy to learn and well-documented, making it accessible for beginners. WebAssembly, on the other hand, can be used with multiple programming languages, including C, C++, and Rust, allowing developers to utilize their existing codebase and take advantage of performance optimizations offered by these languages.
Performance: WebAssembly has been designed to provide near-native performance and efficiency. It can execute complex computations and algorithms significantly faster than PHP, which can improve the overall user experience by reducing latency and providing smoother interactions. PHP, although fast for most web applications, may not be as performant as WebAssembly for computationally intensive tasks.
Security: PHP runs on the server-side, and developers have more control over security measures. This includes access control, input validation, and protection against common vulnerabilities. WebAssembly, on the other hand, introduces a new attack surface by executing code directly in the client's browser, making it essential to implement additional security measures to prevent malicious code execution and protect user data.
Portability: WebAssembly offers better portability as its binary format can be executed on different platforms and devices, including browsers, servers, and IoT devices, making it a versatile choice for a wide range of applications. PHP, although widely supported, requires a server-side runtime environment for execution, limiting its portability compared to WebAssembly.
Integration with Existing Web Technologies: PHP has been used extensively in the web development ecosystem and has matured over the years, providing seamless integration with popular web technologies like databases, frameworks, and content management systems. WebAssembly, being a relatively new technology, is still evolving, and while it is possible to integrate it with existing web technologies, it may require additional effort and support.

In summary, PHP and WebAssembly differ in terms of execution environment, language support, performance, security, portability, and integration with existing web technologies. WebAssembly offers enhanced performance and portability, while PHP provides better integration with existing web technologies and control over server-side security.

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CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Advice on PHP, WebAssembly

Kyle

Web Application Developer at Fortinet

Jun 2, 2020

Decided

Node continues to be dominant force in the world of web apps, with it's signature async first non-blocking IO, and frankly mind bending speeds. PHP and Python are formable tools, I chose Node for the simplicity of Express as a good and performant server side API gateway platform, that works well with Angular.

394k views394k

Comments

Octavian

Software Engineer

May 26, 2020

Decided

Both PHP and Python are free but when it comes to web development PHP wins for sure. There is no doubt that Python is a powerful language but it is not optimal for web. PHP has issues... of course; but so does any other language.

Another reason I chose PHP is for community - it has one of the most resourceful communities from the internet and for a good reason: it evolved with the language itself.

The fact that OOP evolved so much in PHP makes me keep it for good :)

377k views377k

Comments

Davit

Apr 11, 2020

Needs advice

Hi everyone, I have just started to study web development, so I'm very new in this field. I would like to ask you which tools are most updated and good to use for getting a job in medium-big company. Front-end is basically not changing by time so much (as I understood by researching some info), so my question is about back-end tools. Which backend tools are most updated and requested by medium-big companies (I am searching for immediate job possibly)?

Thank you in advance Davit

390k views390k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

PHP	WebAssembly
Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.	It is an open standard that defines a portable binary code format for executable programs, and a corresponding textual assembly language, as well as interfaces for facilitating interactions between such programs and their host environment.
-	Efficient and fast; Safe; Open and debuggable; Part of the open web platform
Statistics
GitHub Stars 39.6K	GitHub Stars 8.2K
GitHub Forks 8.0K	GitHub Forks 818
Stacks 147.4K	Stacks 223
Followers 82.9K	Followers 218
Votes 4.6K	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 954 Large community 820 Open source 767 Easy deployment 487 Great frameworks 387 The best glue on the web Cons 21 So easy to learn, good practices are hard to find 16 Inconsistent API 8 Fragmented community 6 Not secure 3 Hard to debug	Cons 2 Security issues
Integrations
Laravel JavaScript	Rust C++ C lang

What are some alternatives to PHP, WebAssembly?

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

Swift

Writing code is interactive and fun, the syntax is concise yet expressive, and apps run lightning-fast. Swift is ready for your next iOS and OS X project — or for addition into your current app — because Swift code works side-by-side with Objective-C.

Related Comparisons

PHP vs WebAssembly: What are the differences?

Introduction

Execution Environment: In PHP, code is executed on the server-side using a PHP interpreter, and the output is sent to the client's browser. WebAssembly, on the other hand, is executed in a client's browser using a runtime engine, like a JavaScript engine, providing faster execution and reducing the need for round trips to the server.
Language Support: PHP is specifically designed for web development and has a wide range of built-in functions and frameworks for web applications. It is easy to learn and well-documented, making it accessible for beginners. WebAssembly, on the other hand, can be used with multiple programming languages, including C, C++, and Rust, allowing developers to utilize their existing codebase and take advantage of performance optimizations offered by these languages.
Performance: WebAssembly has been designed to provide near-native performance and efficiency. It can execute complex computations and algorithms significantly faster than PHP, which can improve the overall user experience by reducing latency and providing smoother interactions. PHP, although fast for most web applications, may not be as performant as WebAssembly for computationally intensive tasks.
Security: PHP runs on the server-side, and developers have more control over security measures. This includes access control, input validation, and protection against common vulnerabilities. WebAssembly, on the other hand, introduces a new attack surface by executing code directly in the client's browser, making it essential to implement additional security measures to prevent malicious code execution and protect user data.
Portability: WebAssembly offers better portability as its binary format can be executed on different platforms and devices, including browsers, servers, and IoT devices, making it a versatile choice for a wide range of applications. PHP, although widely supported, requires a server-side runtime environment for execution, limiting its portability compared to WebAssembly.
Integration with Existing Web Technologies: PHP has been used extensively in the web development ecosystem and has matured over the years, providing seamless integration with popular web technologies like databases, frameworks, and content management systems. WebAssembly, being a relatively new technology, is still evolving, and while it is possible to integrate it with existing web technologies, it may require additional effort and support.

PHP vs WebAssembly

Overview

PHP vs WebAssembly: What are the differences?