HTML vs PHP

What is the difference between HTML and PHP? Well, the basic way to break it down is this:

The structure of the web page is defined by HTML a markup language, whereas PHP is a scripting language.

Features of HTML

HTML has many features let us take a look at some popular features that help developers.

• HTML is simple, user-friendly, and platform-independent. The investment in HTML scripting language is low and the return is high in terms of features.
• Hypertext markup language has 100 built-in tags and the developers need to learn only a handful of them for their daily use.
• Using HTML the developers can add audio, images, and videos to the web page. Companies like Amazon, and eBay use HTML in the beginning.

What is PHP?

PHP is an open-source and server-side scripting language. It is used to create web applications, both static and dynamic websites. In the initial year, PHP was referred to as Personal Home Page. It is now known as Hypertext Pre-processor. The scripts of PHP can be included in the web pages of HTML to execute on the server. The result is displayed on the screen using the markup language HTML.

Apart from web development, PHP can be used for database connection, storing data in the database, information retrieval, sending emails to website users, data encryption, and so on.

Features of PHP

PHP has many features. Let us take a look at some popular features that help developers.

• The PHP language is easy to learn as it is simple and the syntax is more familiar to the Pascal and C language. The language has many pre-defined functions, which is very useful for developers.
• PHP is more flexible as it can be integrated with XML, Javascript, and HTML. PHP can run on multiple operating systems named Linux, Windows, Unix, Mac OS, and so on.

HTML vs PHP

Now let us take a look at the difference between HTML and PHP.

• Language:

HTML is a markup language it is used by front-end developers to develop web applications or websites. PHP is a server-side scripting language used for the development of the dynamic application. The result of HTML code is static and remains constant, whereas the result of PHP is dynamic. The output will vary on the browsers.

• Integration:

To develop dynamic webpages HTML needs to be integrated with AJAX. By default PHP creates dynamic webpages or websites. PHP can be integrated with different Databases named MySQL, Oracle, and so on.

• Purpose:

The HTML language is used to structure the content in the website whereas PHP is to create the page as expected. The developers by using Hypertext can insert videos, audio, hyperlinks, and images. The developers by using  PHP can perform calculations on the website, and create register forms to store the data.

• Error:

If the HTML file contains a minor error, the output will be generated. The errors are ignored by the browser. In the PHP files if there occurs a syntax error or error in the logic the expected output will not be generated by the browser.

Though HTML and PHP are used to develop web applications, the developer uses HTML as a front-end tool. Whereas PHP is used as a server-side tool. The front-end deals with the color, size, exact position of the content, and presentation of the website. The server side deals with data storage, calculation, and information retrieval. PHP code can be included in the HTML file. The developers need to learn both PHP and HTML as they are important for the development of the web.

If you would like to learn how to code, take a look at Thinkful’s job-ready curriculum.

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