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Difference and Similarities between PHP and C

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PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development. It can be easily embedded in HTML files and HTML codes can also be written in a PHP file. The thing that differentiates PHP from a client-side language like HTML is, PHP codes are executed on the server whereas HTML codes are directly rendered on the browser. C is a procedural programming language. It was initially developed by Dennis Ritchie as a system programming language to write an operating system. The main features of C language include low-level access to memory, a simple set of keywords, and a clean style, these features make C language suitable for system programmings like an operating system or compiler development.

Similarities between PHP and C

Parameters Similarities
Syntax
  1. Code is not sensitive to blanks.
  2. Semicolons are used for terminating a sentence.
  3. Functions are called in a similar fashion.
  4. Curly brackets are used for enclosing code in a block.
  5. C and C++ comment style is supported by PHP.
Operators All types of operators in C behave in a similar way in PHP, such as basic arithmetic, boolean, assignment, and comparison operators.
Control Structure
  1. The primary control structures such as, if-else, while, for, do-while, etc function in a similar way in both languages.
  2. Break and continue are available in both PHP and C.
  3. The switch is also the same, except that in PHP strings are also accepted as case identifiers.
Function prototype The user defines functions that are named in the same way in both languages.
Supported platforms Windows, MacOS, Linux.

Differences between PHP and C

Sl. No. Parameters PHP C
1. Developed Developed by the PHP Group, PHP was first made available in 1994. In 1972, Denis Ritchie developed the computer language C in the Bell Labs at AT&T.
2. Data types

PHP has only two numerical data types:

  • integer(can be compared to long in C)
  • double(can be compared to double in C)

Strings are of random length and there is no character data type available in PHP.

C has:

  • Primary data types(such as int, double, float, char, void, etc.)
  • Derived data types(array, structure, union and pointer)
3. Type Conversion Data types are not checked during compile-time and data type errors are rare to occur. Values and variables are automatically cast into the suitable data type. In C variables are declared with data types. While some data types have an implicit conversion, others need to be type-casted. Data type error occurs in C commonly and should be taken care of.
4. Array

Superficially they look similar to arrays in C.

  • Array need not be allocated or declared in advance.
  • The indexes can be opted by user- string or a number.
  • They are used for hashing and are known as associative arrays.
  • The array needs to be allocated or declared in advance.
  • Their data types and memory allocation is done before they are used in the code.
  • The indexes can be only numbers starting from 0.
5. Structure No structure type is needed because of the array and objects. Structure type exists in C.
6. Prototypes There is no prototype in PHP because the function is not required to be declared before its implementation. There are prototypes in C because the function is required to be declared before its implementation.
7. Permissiveness PHP is a lot more lenient when compared to C. More than errors there are unexpected results from making new mistakes. C will give errors if the data type is not declared, the array size is not declared, etc. Comparing it to PHP it is a little stricter.
8. Purpose It is a server-side language. It is a procedural programming language.
9. HTML Connectivity Can be merged with an HTML file. Cannot be merged with an HTML file.
10.  Supported OS Windows, FreeBSD, Linux, Mac OSX, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and RISC OS Windows, MacOS, Linux, Embedded systems, and mobile devices

Last Updated : 19 Apr, 2023
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