Lets get things clear from my own point of view and at the start of this article, as long as web development is involved, I’d go with PHP and Laravel over Python and Django. But they’re both great pairings of powerful tools with beautiful futures and give great reputation to developers who code with them. Let’s get into the pluses and minuses.
Language-wise, PHP is a language of the web. It’s made specifically for web development and is likely the faster development language in that environment. PHP 7 also seems more efficient than Python 3 and needs less VPS memory overhead to accomplish the same tasks… as long as we’re talking about web tasks. As performant as PHP is though, Laravel as the best PHP framework (as at the time of this writing) does not necessarily share that performance traits.
Python 3, on the other hand, is useful to know far beyond web development, if you are also into other things. Much like C# is the language for modern video game development or cross-platform mobile development, Python is increasingly the language for Big Data and AI and/or machine learning. Therefore don't get it twisted, the more you use Python with Django, the better suited you will be for these other useful areas in the future.
There are more Web development jobs for PHP coders, but there are more jobs in general for Python coders. It depends on how dedicated you are to the web, as most PHP jobs or gigs will be related to WordPress or, increasingly now, Laravel. PHP is all web development, all the time. I discussed this in details in my previous post that PHP from version 7 and above can be chosen for the backend development for enterprise websites with high traffic and compared it with other technology, do check it out.
Framework-wise, Laravel also makes you use classic, traditional object-oriented programming (OOP) and MVC (model-view-controller) patterns. You will be very ready to use other more robust MVC frameworks (like say .NET) after mastering Laravel. Django less so, as it’s a little more quirky or unique with its MVT (model-view-template) approach and is a bit less married to the OOP paradigm.
Laravel also has considerable momentum over Django as of 2018 according to Google Trends results for how many people are seeking info on Laravel and how many are checking out Django. Laravel first passed Django in developer “interest” in April 2016, then passed Ruby on Rails in December 2016, and has gradually increased its lead over both frameworks through every month of 2017. In 2021, Laravel has gone through so many upgrades. Its functionalities and features have developed so well that it has become the hot favorite PHP framework for web application development.
You can’t really go wrong with either of these, but if you are equally proficient with PHP and Python, Laravel has the momentum as well as the stricter (or at least more traditional) adherence to certain “best practices” in web programming such as OOP and MVC. And, language-wise, PHP powers much of the web (thanks in part to WordPress) and there will undoubtedly be plenty of open opportunities in PHP web development for decades into the future.
Primarily for those three reasons, Laravel and PHP are probably your best bets for web development as of 2018 and looking toward the 2020s.
If you are building a really large or highly trafficked site, I’d maybe consider Django for the job after all, Laravel is still in the mix too or more likely use Node.js or ASP.net Core 2 instead of either. That being said, Laravel can handle whatever you’d throw at it. You’d just need to upgrade the hardware as the traffic grows.
If you gained something from this article, take a minute of your time, hit the share button and share this piece with your network on social media, also give me a follow on all social media platform via @ifycoool.
Be the first to catch my next article, visit and subscribe to my official blog via blog.ifeanyiokeakwam.com
Top comments (0)