PHP, ColdFusion, ASP and JSP are all popular server-side
scripting middle for Web database. Which one is the best choice for you?
Let's compare their features in the following table:
|
PHP
|
ColdFusion
|
ASP
|
JSP
|
| Cost |
Free |
$0 (Express version)-$5000 (Enterprise version) |
Free with Windows NT, cost for 3rd-party software |
Free |
| Language In Page |
PHP |
CFML |
VBScript, JScript |
Java |
| OS Platform |
Unix (Linux), Windows, MacOS, OS/2 |
Windows NT, Solaris, Linux |
Windows 9x, NT, other platforms requires third-party
ASP porting products |
UNIX, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux |
Supported
Web server |
Apache only (version 3.0)
iPlanet/Netscape Enterprise Server (NSAPI), MS Internet Information
Server (IIS), Apache, Zeus, fhttpd, etc. (version 4)
|
IIS, Netscape Enterprise Server , Apache, Website Server
(WSAPI), CGI |
IIS, Personal Web Server (PWS), other servers with third-party
products (ChiliSoft!) |
Any Web server, including Apache, Netscape and IIS
|
Supported
Database |
MySQL, mSQL, ODBC, Oracle, Informix, Sybase, etc. |
ODBC, OLE DB, DB2, Oracle, Informix, Sybase, etc. |
any ODBC-compliant database |
any ODBC- and JDBC-compliant database |
| Portability |
Fair (DB portability) |
Good |
Fair |
Good |
| Scalability |
Fair |
Good |
Good |
Good |
| Component Support |
COM, Java classes (version 4) |
COM, CORBA, JavaBeans |
COM components |
JavaBeans, Enterprise JavaBeans |
| Learning curve |
High (C, Perl) |
Low |
Medium (VBScript, JScript) |
High (Java) |
For small non-profit organizations, PHP/MySQL combo is a
good choice.
For enterprises, ColdFusion excels for its ease to implement
and design, and its functionality.
For companies already invested heavily on Microsoft systems,
ASP is the default choice.
For development of information systems facing future, JSP
is a promising tool. Allaire will bridge ColdFuson and JSP in their next-generation
Web-DB environment.