PHP or node.js for my product?

1

I started learning web development to build a mvp for my startup idea. I have completed up to the intermediate level front end development projects. My question is should I learn php/mysql or node/mongodb next? The site I want to make will involve heavy backend coding. I have a target of 3 months to finish it. The reason I want to use php is because many of the features I want in my product have already been coded in PHP. On the other hand, I feel I am good at javascript. Also, everyone seems to hate PHP (I don’t know why?)

I want to completely build it myself, can’t afford to hire anyone. Please suggest the best route for me (Also, how many days will it take to achieve intermediate level proficiency in PHP? I haven’t even started it.)

I also want to know whether the expected time-period of 3 months is realistic or should I stretch it?

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Go with the stack that you know best. It sounds like that’s node and mongo.

And yeah, 3 months probably isn’t realistic either way.

3

Go with node, you’ll save yourself from a lot of trouble.

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@oxyrus Any specific reasons for preferring node?

5

Biggest ecosystem, more developers available, excellent development tools. None of the large companies is investing in PHP, they’re all with Node, Go, Python, Java and Ruby.

Go with PHP only if you like it, personally I found it horrendous.

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6

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

Thank you for taking the time to learn how to implement your own project! Every time someone begs for free help on their super cool idea, I die a little more inside. An idea is only as good as can be created, so you’re way ahead of the game.

If you get something open-source started, feel free to advertise your GitHub repo here. There are a few other sites like UpForGrabs where people go looking to contribute, too.

To answer your actual question, I would go with Node. PHP gets bashed a lot (maybe deservedly, maybe not), but what matters is that you’d sink most of your 3 months just into learning PHP and a framework. Much better to go with Node which will leverage your knowledge of JavaScript, and you can get more reliable help for here on the forums. 3 months may be an optimistic target for a full product, but just having a working prototype should be doable.

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