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If you have ever planned to build a website, you probably wondered what programming language is the best to use.
In the case of the front end, it’s pretty clear that most modern front-end web developers work with HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript.
But deciding on the technology for the back end may not be obvious and depends on many factors you must consider.
To clarify your doubts and shed some light on the most popular server side development programming languages and frameworks, we will examine the most competitive backend development technologies: PHP, Node.js, and Ruby on Rails (RoR).
PHP for web development
PHPÂ is the oldest and still the most popular programming language, with around 80% of websites built with it. It was first released in 1995, and its popularity has been growing rapidly since then.
Thanks to its long-term popularity (it’s almost 25 years old!), most browsers cope with it very well.
PHP code is provided with official support to ensure it is high-quality and meets all the up-to-date standards.
The PHP community is enormous and always willing to help its fellow programmers.
Since PHP uses its own memory, its processing speed is rather high compared to other back-end technologies.
The PHP code is also conceptually slimmer; making a Hello World web page takes only three lines.
More than that, PHP is free to use and doesn’t require any additional software.
Besides, it is highly scalable, meaning you can always extend the existing website using PHP as your business grows.
You will even save when it comes to publishing your website on a server, as most of the hosting companies support PHP.
Ruby on Rails for web development
Ruby on Rails, or RoR, is a web application framework implemented in the Ruby programming language. It was released in 2005 and is five years older than Node.js.
RoR is also open-source and has a great community, but it can be hard to read, and its performance speed is considered to be pretty slow.
Ruby on Rails was originally built to make the coding process more fun for rails developers and easier to learn. Developing with RoR can become really time-efficient when done by a professional.
It may be a great tool in capable hands, but the price to pay for a mistake is pretty high.
It also lacks well-structured documentation that doesn’t save time in the development process.
Ruby language is a breakthrough in lowering the barriers of entry to programming.
Powerful web application development that formerly might have taken weeks or months to develop can be produced in a matter of days.
Node.js web application
Node.js was released in 2009 and is operated by V8 Engine, the same engine that powers the Chrome web browser.
Its syntax is simpler when it comes to reusing code.
Node.js is not a programming language in its traditional sense, but rather an interpreter of JavaScript code.
 Node.js is a great and often irreplaceable solution when it comes to web sockets and real-time chat apps.
The Node.js ecosystem is considered immature, and some packages are either poorly documented or of poor quality.
It happens partly because this language is open-source and partly because it is quite young and is still evolving.
Full-stack developers, often freelancers, prefer Node.js because it allows them to develop the whole site, both front-end and back-end, using JavaScript.
Node.js usually has built-in libraries to deal with web requests, so you don’t need a separate web server.
However, you should take into consideration that you will need to find Node.Js-friendly hosting.
Very often to achieve the best cost-time-quality combination, Node.js is used along with PHP for the server-side of the web site.
So what to choose? Head to head comparison
The choice always depends on the project goals, budget, and deadlines, as each technology can win or lose in some aspects to its competitors.
For example, for a project with a low budget with no strict deadlines, you might want to choose to hire a full-stack freelance developer, but you have to be ready that the release date can be significantly postponed.
If you are looking for building web applications quickly and, in doing so, don’t mind sacrificing performance speed, RoR may be the right choice for the project.
If you want to get a good value for money while meeting deadlines and keep your web app scalable and fast, you would probably want to stick to PHP.
To embed a real-time web app, you will probably have to add some Node.js code to the back-end of your site.
PHP, RoR, Node.js comparative table
Let’s have a look at the comparative table provided below to make your choice easier.
We compared its popularity according to the most recent stats by W3Techs, listed its pros and cons, as well as mentioned companies that preferred using PHP, RoR or Node for their web sites. Â
Development cost
Before answering this question, we want to note that high-quality app development has never been cheap.
Hour ranges for the professionals more depend on their skills and expertise rather than on the programming language they use.
But because of the vast popularity of PHP, finding a PHP developer for a reasonable price won’t be a problem.
As we have mentioned above, it is often not enough to use only one language to build a website’s server side.
Some functionality, like live chats, may require using other technology, such as Node.js.
But in most cases, it is neither reasonable nor cost-effective to build the site’s backend using only Node.js; rather, it is better to combine it with PHP.
Use cases and real-world examples
PHP for content-driven sites
PHP has been around for decades, making it a reliable choice for content-heavy websites. It’s quite popular with platforms that need dynamic content and strong database interaction.
- Facebook (early days): Before switching to its custom language (Hack), Facebook relied heavily on PHP to manage its growth.
- The speed of iteration and ease of use made it the go-to choice during Facebook’s formative years.
- Wikipedia: As one of the largest knowledge repositories in the world, Wikipedia uses PHP to serve millions of daily users.
- Its scalability and ability to handle large amounts of text-based content made this platform successful.
- WordPress: Powering over 40% of websites on the Internet, WordPress is the most prominent PHP-based platform.
- Its huge ecosystem of plugins and themes allows users to create anything from personal blogs to full-fledged eCommerce sites.
Ruby, the best choice for rapid development
Ruby, especially when paired with the Ruby on Rails framework, is known for helping developers build web applications more efficiently. This technology is a favourite choice among startups.
- GitHub: The world’s largest code-hosting platform started on Ruby on Rails. GitHub’s success shows how Ruby can handle collaborative, large-scale projects while maintaining simplicity and clarity in code.
- Shopify: One of the leading e-commerce platforms, Shopify runs on Ruby on Rails. Its rich system supports thousands of online stores, demonstrating Ruby’s ability to manage complex, high-traffic environments.
- Airbnb: Initially built with Ruby on Rails, it used the framework to develop and scale its platform quickly. Though it has since integrated other technologies, Ruby played a key role in Airbnb’s early success.
Node.js for speed and scalability
Node.js is the go-to choice for real-time, event-driven applications. Its non-blocking architecture makes it perfect for handling high-volume, data-intensive apps with low latency.
- Netflix: As the world’s largest streaming service, Netflix uses Node.js for its fast, lightweight backend processes.
- It helps optimize the user experience by speeding up server-side rendering and reducing startup time.
- LinkedIn: The professional networking giant chose Node.js to handle the backend of its mobile app.
- By switching from traditional technologies to Node.js, LinkedIn saw massive performance gains, including a substantial reduction in server count.
- Uber: Known for its real-time ride-hailing system, Uber leverages Node.js to handle high volumes of data and quick updates.
- Its event-driven model is perfect for managing live connections between drivers and riders.
Related post
To discover the true cost of PHP development, we’d recommend you to read the article dedicated to this topic on our blog.
Best choice for your project
Here, at Altamira we decided to choose PHP as our main technology of the server-side. So we may be biased, but biased for a reason.
What we like about PHP, is that it can be used to build any kind of a website, from the landing pages to the complex web platforms like Facebook.
Besides, PHP is flexible, native, has multiple integration opportunities and fast. But it doesn’t mean that we don’t use other technologies when needed.
Very often we use a combination of different languages, to make the project meet the requirements and even exceed our client’s expectations.
How can Altamira help you?
Our team is experienced in a wide range of technologies and always knows what is best for a certain project according to our profound experience in making web and mobile applications of varying complexity.
We are grateful that our clients give us the opportunity to choose the right technologies for their projects, and their positive reviews testify to our competence in this area.
FAQ
- PHP is a server-side language known for web development and popular platforms like WordPress.
- Ruby is an object-oriented language often used with Rails for fast development.
- Node.js is a runtime that lets you run JavaScript on the server, perfect for real-time apps.
- Node.js handles high-traffic, real-time apps well due to its non-blocking I/O.
- Ruby on Rails is great for building fast, but scaling can take extra effort.
- PHP is still a solid choice for large, content-heavy sites like e-commerce platforms.
- Node.js is typically the fastest due to its event-driven model.
- PHP has improved a lot in recent years, especially with PHP 8.
- Ruby is slower but can be optimized with tools like JRuby.
All can be secure if used properly. Node.js relies on third-party packages, so careful vetting is key.
PHP has improved its security with modern frameworks like Laravel. Ruby on Rails comes with built-in security features to handle common threats.
Node.js is the clear winner for real-time applications like chats, games, and live streaming.
Choose PHP if you’re working with CMS platforms or need something simple.
Go with Ruby for fast development and clean code.
Pick Node.js if you need speed, scalability, and real-time capabilities.
