Web development is an extremely broad term that refers to the developing of websites for the Internet.  That can involve web design, but most web developers consider it to be the programming and coding of websites.  Web development has changed greatly in recent years, with various systems, or languages, that have come into prominence for the development of websites.  The most widely used of those are PHP and ASP.net, and each has their own distinct uses and advantages.

ASP.net (Active Server Pages) is developed by Microsoft and works on their Windows platform.  PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) was created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1995, and has been continually developed ever since then.  It generally runs on Linux servers.  Both systems are used to create dynamic web pages that are able to exchange information and interact with databases.

ASP.net runs on Microsoft’s IIS (Internet Information Server).  In order to code using ASP.net, web developers need to have IIS installed on their system.  This incurs considerable costs for businesses.  PHP, however, runs on Linux software, which is free and open source, and can achieve similar results to ASP.net. 

PHP is considered to have greater database connectivity.  It’s easily connects to a number of databases, including MySQL, which is the most commonly used database, and is free.  Microsoft’s equivalent database, MS-SQL, again incurs costs.  PHP code also runs quicker than ASP.net, leading to faster load times on websites.  This is because it runs in its own memory space. 

Both systems have their advantages.  ASP.net, although costly, can be beneficial for larger commercial enterprises and mission-critical applications, as Microsoft has excellent technical support if any problems are run into.  PHP relies on the open source community, and solving problems yourself.  However, when utilized by an experienced web development company, both systems can achieve excellent results.