There is a long running debate over which of these two languages is better for developing dynamic web pages. Each can provide a great deal of functionality and features (along with database access) to a website. Each are in high demand be web developers, and it seems that everyone has their preference for one reason or another.

Most would argue or even agree that ColdFusion is easier to use. Its tag based setup makes it very similar to writing HTML. As such the transition from one into the other is easier and the vast array of tags provides an extensive source of functions. As you would expect, this makes ColdFusion very accessible and the small amounts of concise code make debugging a very straight forward process. Furthermore it is very simple to make the transition from one database system to another in ColdFusion as the process only required one element of the code to be changed. ColdFusion also has built in functionality such as XML integration, charting and POP mail retrieval.

However there are those who would argue that the simple tag based nature of ColdFusion makes it difficult to discern from the HTML it is embedded in. You might also argue that is limited in comparison to PHP as is also slower at performing. It is also quite expensive to run ColdFusion.

PHP is open source and as such is completely free and there are vast quantities of shared source code and functions as a result. PHP is a far more ‘coder’ based system in that is more suited to the hard coders out there who like to have everything exactly their way. PHP has a greater scope for function as it is not limited by the same tag structure as ColdFusion.

As a result PHP is a very powerful language but is hampered by the fact that it is not very user friendly. The debugging process is more time consuming and it is difficult for an administrator to alter someone else’s code.

What really sets these two apart is the fact that PHP is open source making it a firm favourite among many small business programmers or those doing website design for personal reasons. However, when it comes to big business ColdFusion is a firm favourite throughout web design and SEO UK despite its cost as it offers an efficient and very effective service.

What it always comes down to is personal preference. There’s no one better language, just the better language for you. But don’t get me started on ASP.

Sam Qam works in SEO UK and has backed up many a good website design with dynamic functionality.