Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PHP VS C

Compare PHP VS C and see what are their differences

PHP logo PHP

A popular general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited to web development

C logo C

One of the most widely used programming languages of all time
  • PHP Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-21

We recommend LibHunt PHP for discovery and comparisons of trending PHP projects.

  • C Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-17

We recommend LibHunt C for discovery and comparisons of trending C projects.

PHP features and specs

  • Cost-Effective
    PHP is an open-source language, meaning it is free to use. This helps reduce the overall cost of a project.
  • Large Community
    PHP has a large and active community. This means vast amounts of documentation, tutorials, and third-party resources are available.
  • Cross-Platform
    PHP is platform-independent and can run on various operating systems like Windows, Linux, and macOS.
  • Database Support
    PHP supports a wide range of databases including MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and more.
  • Speed
    PHP is generally fast, especially when used with built-in tools and extensions. It integrates easily with web servers like Apache.
  • Built-in Functions
    PHP comes with a vast range of built-in functions and libraries, which makes developing common functionalities easier and faster.
  • Server-Side Scripting
    PHP is designed specifically for server-side scripting, making it well-suited for web development.

Possible disadvantages of PHP

  • Security
    If not properly managed, PHP applications can be vulnerable to security threats like SQL injection, XSS, and others.
  • Inconsistency
    PHP's function naming and parameter ordering can be inconsistent, which can make the language difficult to learn and use efficiently.
  • Performance
    While fast for many tasks, PHP can struggle with performance for high-resource applications compared to other languages like Node.js or Python.
  • Error Handling
    Error handling in PHP is less efficient and more cumbersome compared to modern languages like Python or JavaScript.
  • Concurrency
    PHP lacks native support for multi-threading, which can be a limitation for applications requiring high concurrency.
  • Old Codebases
    Many older PHP applications use outdated coding practices, making maintaining and updating them more difficult and costly.
  • Type System
    PHP historically had a weak typing system, though recent versions have introduced better type support, it's still a drawback for older codebases.

C features and specs

  • Efficiency
    C provides low-level access to memory and is closely aligned with machine instructions, offering high-performance and efficient use of resources.
  • Portability
    Code written in C can be compiled on various platforms with minimal modification, making it highly portable across different systems.
  • Rich Library Support
    The C programming language has a powerful set of standard libraries that facilitate various operations (e.g., input/output, string handling).
  • Control and Flexibility
    C offers extensive control over system resources and hardware operations, allowing fine-tuning and optimization for specific use cases.
  • Foundation for Other Languages
    Many modern programming languages, like C++, Python, and Java, have their roots in C, making it a foundational language that's beneficial to learn.

Possible disadvantages of C

  • Lack of Abstraction
    C provides less abstraction compared to higher-level languages, which may result in more complex and error-prone code for certain tasks.
  • Manual Memory Management
    The programmer is responsible for managing memory allocation and deallocation, which can lead to memory leaks and other errors if not handled properly.
  • No Built-in Support for Object-Oriented Programming
    C does not natively support object-oriented programming paradigms, which can make modeling complex systems less intuitive compared to OOP languages.
  • Safety Issues
    Lack of bounds checking can lead to buffer overflows and other vulnerabilities, posing security risks in C programs if not carefully addressed.
  • Steeper Learning Curve
    Due to its low-level operations, beginners might find C more difficult to learn compared to higher-level languages with simpler syntax and automatic memory management.

PHP videos

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More videos:

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C videos

Mercedes C-Class 2020 in-depth review | carwow Reviews

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  • Review - New Fractal Define Mini C - Build + Review!
  • Review - Fractal Meshify C Review: Thermals & Noise vs. Define C

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PHP and C)
Programming Language
71 71%
29% 29
OOP
75 75%
25% 25
Generic Programming Language
Languages
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare PHP and C

PHP Reviews

Top 10 Rust Alternatives
PHP is another general purpose-based computing language. This language is mostly found in HTML. It is usually used for the management of content that is based on dynamic information.
Top 20 Javascript Libraries
As the name suggests, JsPHP is a Javascript library for PHP API to be available in the JS environment. It is open-source and provides a compelling interface for JS developers who work in PHP. JsPHP can work in tandem with other libraries in an application. JsPHP supports PHP functions, including regular expressions, date-time evaluations, JSON, error handling, object...
Source: hackr.io
The 10 Best Programming Languages to Learn Today
What kind of development projects do you want to work on? If career flexibility is a priority, learning Python or C++ will allow you to work across different types of programming. If your passion is web development, learning JavaScript or PHP is a smart choice.
Source: ict.gov.ge

C Reviews

Top 5 Most Liked and Hated Programming Languages of 2022
C is one of the oldest programming languages. There are numerous other languages that came in after C like Java, PHP, etc., and have managed to outshine the former. When compared to C, other languages boast of a series of features thereby making it a less favourable one.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PHP seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 54 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

PHP mentions (54)

  • The Lost Art of Reading Documentation
    I remember being 15 (18 years ago 🥲) and learning PHP. Stack Overflow wasn’t as big yet, and finding answers often meant digging through forums filled with half-baked solutions, each dependent on specific hosting configurations. There was no universal standard, some hosts supported certain php.ini settings while others didn’t. The only reliable resource? The official PHP documentation: php.net. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Using named arguments in php8 and up
    That's the first I've heard of it, and I like it! I can't tell you the number of trips to php.net to look at argument order for a function. Is it haystack/needle, or needle/haystack? Of course it could turn into the same thing w/ argument names (is it whole_name or full_name?), but I'm going to use it. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • How to display results from multiple SQL queries in the same table cell?
    Prepare to spend a fair bit of time reading and going back to phptherightway.com and php.net. I've also found this Tutorial from Envato Tuts+ to be quite good. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Beginner searching for set up resources
    All I want to do with php is to have a recurring navbar on a website. I don't know what to do next. So far I've tried php.net's manual, w3scchool's tutorial and the set up part of first five recommended php tutorials on youtube. I have also spent hours on stackoverflow, which got me even more confused. The more I read, the less nothing makes sense to me and I don't know where the problem is. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • date_format crashing on NULL values after upgrade to PHP 8.x
    I tried looking at the upgrade from 7.4 to 8.0 docs on php.net but I don't see anything regarding any changes to this function. Any ideas? Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

C mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of C yet. Tracking of C recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PHP and C, you can also consider the following products

Python - Python is a clear and powerful object-oriented programming language, comparable to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, or Java.

JavaScript - Lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions

Rust - A safe, concurrent, practical language

Java - A concurrent, class-based, object-oriented, language specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible

NIM - GB64.COM is the home of The Gamebase Collection of C64 games.

Ruby - A dynamic, interpreted, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity