Alex O'Connor

If you are programmer the wages for asp.net are higher and there are far more jobs (in the enterprise).
If you are more of a creative type the wages are pretty even for any web programming language and there are far more PHP jobs about (with design agencies).
If its classic asp, its old technology (last updated 10 years ago) and I would not want to work for someone who incised in developing with classic asp - would you work for someone if they said that the only use Windows 2000 desktops?
 
In the world are far more php programmers out there as the entry level of programming knowledge is lower and attracts more hobbyists, you need very little programming knowledge to get started, whereas with asp.net you need an understanding of OOP (object orientated programming), which requires a significant amount of study to grasp. As a result of this amount of the documentation on the web or books that cover more advanced topics (the ones that earn you the higher wages) for PHP is minimal compared to asp.net. Where I can google for books on architecture, best practices, design patterns and get 18 recommended books for .net, I only get 2 or 3 for PHP . Search the web and Microsoft provide you with documentation on MSDN from basic to highly advanced programming techniques with .net, with php.net (the home of php) you only get basic examples of how to use each function and this is enough to get by most of your day to day programming duties.
 
Performance - asp.net can process data faster than php, no doubt about it. In my experience for simple pages, your average CMS (e.g. open source), the time to display pages to a user is pretty even; variances in web server, database performance and programmer expertise is far more significant.
 
My advice would be, if you are and want to be a more creative type, bit of designing, maybe specialising in the html/css/ajax arena php is your best bet, easier to learn, more material for beginners - you will be productive sooner.
Then later if you want to advance your programming skills, learn something like python. Its is a great language to learn and really teaches you how to program well (whereas PHP promotes bad programming habits (poor naming conventions, security etc) and the skills you would pick up in it would transfer over to PHP and make you a more advanced developer.
 
If your mainstay is to be a Web Developer and more interested in coding the back end systems than the front end, then asp.net is probably the better route to go to start with, then learn a bit of PHP down the road if/when you need to, learn the good habits first.
 
Cheers, Nick

I personally use PHP and so do all of my main competitors, collegues and old friends from university.
 
Furthermore, globally, PHP is more widely used and therefore has more support around it. For example, when you Google "how to program a ... " a lot of the time, examples are in PHP.
 
Additionally to this, PHP integrates perfectly with MySQL and is the reason for its success. Despite MySQL not being the best, it is the most popular and may be what you end up using. ASP on the other hand, integrates best with MS-SQL, for obvious reasons.
 
PHP will run on a Linux server, for free. It will also run on many other servers.
ASP will only run on a Windows server, which is not free.
 
Oh... And PHP is faster.
 
HOWWWWWEEVVERRRRRRRRR
 
To answer your question:
 
Quite the contrary to my argument, ASP is used more in industry and to back this up I did a search for you on Jobsite.
 
Jobs in ASP: 756
Jobs in PHP: 358

Linux! It's powerful and it's fast and it doesn't spam you upto hell with applications you don't need and random auto-updates like windows!... If you are able or have knowledge, I think Linux is a good idea... If you have any better alternatives, please let me know... I've just had nothing but bad experience with Windows. I have left my Linux server online for almost a year without restarting or any maintenance at all... Works a treat. 0% down-time.
 
Best reason to do this? It's totally free.
Good guide to installing Linux (It ain't easy):
 
http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/php/how-to-setup-a-dedicated-web-server-for-free/
 
Alex O'Connor ~