I have worked on ASP Classic and was thinking of moving to ASP.NET but i get lots of queries for PHP. What do you think, should i move to php ? if yes how long do you think it will take to be good in php ? Please Advice Thanks
It depends how quickly you pick up different programming syntaxes. I have no experience with ASP but I think it's Microsoft based and not linux? So if you have no other knowledge of other languages that have a slightly similar syntax to php such as bash, C then the changeover may be slightly complex. There are tons of tutorials online though so if you try searching for something like "php beginner tutorials" on Google then you'll get into it in no time! The only problem with php are the errors are kind of tricky to understand when you starting out and it's pretty easy to make errors, just keep trying and you'll get there eventually.
The good thing with PHP is whenever theirs an error it indicates the line alongside a comment, theirfore you can easily debug. How fast you learn PHP really depends on how commited you are at learning it. W3schools and Tizag are one of a few sites which may help you, and php.net for the references on different php functions.
Also consider the ramifications of working with 2 languages at the same time. I know I used to have heaps of "fun" working with vba in my day job (semi colon to end a line) and foxpro at home (semicolon to join lines).
If you have a basic understanding of the way back end languages work you should be able to pickup PHP really quickly. Its a nice Easy language. Also since you are thinking of moving on to .NET you might want to look into C#.NET as the syntax of C# is very close to that of PHP.
I find PHP a lot easier to work with than the various Microsoft server-side web platforms. - Far better documentation - More capabilities out-of-the-box - Vastly more sample code online - Much more helpful community - Easier to deploy on a local test environment - Available on many more hosting servers
I have used both PHP and .NET for some of my major projects. PHP is easy to learn, lot of sample codes out there, easy to debug and deploy, free and you can use it in combination with apache and linux. On the other hand, if you have lot of database calls to make (connection pooling etc), PHP can do the job but .NET might be a better choice.
using ZEE PHPEXE compiler -> very easy to use for beginners. transforms your site into windows application. or Winbinder -> very handy and powerful extension allows you to use win api with php. or PHP-GTK -> this is for advanced programmers. if you want to code an application with multi-os support this is the best solution.
if you are good in classic asp programming.. then php will not be a big deal for you.. i am sure.. you dont need to learn it, just start on it.. asp.net is also very good. but in self employed or freelancer, most clients want the work in php.
I think it's more about knowing how to develop the logic of a program! and after that different syntaxes could be adopted easily!
PHP is easier to learn and use, more powerful, and it works both on windows and linux. If you know the algorithmic programming it should be easy to learn php pretty fast.
Cosminx2003, Well that encourages me alot. As i always feel that php is more pain than asp, but i have finally decided to go for it from this week. Thanks everyone for all your advices. Regards