Why PHP?

As I browse trough tones of Internet Marketing websites
selling info products, membership sites, scripts to add on
to your site, I can't help but ask myself why PHP?

All the sites related to IM are coded in PHP, or at least all
of the ones I've visited. Is there any particular reason apart
that PHP has been around for a really long time?

Doesn't anyone ever feel like they should try out using ASP.NET
to develop online applications and make their sites a bit more
dynamic?

PHP is dynamic. Oh and it's free and open source. As i'm currently studying PHP, as far as i'm aware PHP does everything ASP does, plus i imagine the tools to learn are easier to acquire free, as i have Apache, MySQL and PHP set up on my laptop without cost. I'm sure there are costs involved with ASP, afterall it is Micro$oft.

Nah you can use ASP.NET for free just visit www.asp.net
for all the tools you need.

Maybe you're right PHP does everything ASP.NET does,
I have never programed in PHP myself, but with ASP.NET
you can do most things with a simple click and 2 or 3 lines
of code when it comes to creating a dynamic site.

I'm not trying to say ASP.NET in better than PHP, it's all
a matter of opinion and what you're used to, but I was
curious if there was any particular reason why PHP is used
so extensively in Internet Marketing related websites.

To be honest i don't know. I would suspect, and i'm clutching at straws here, but with so many scripts written in php, it would be easier to integrate them with other php scripts. I have no idea whether this could be done with ASP and PHP.

Another guess would be that unix servers are cheaper and infinitely more stable and I suspect ASP needs an expensive less stable Windows Server (EEEK!). I Also know php is known to be free and open source. I don't know how that is defined with script languages as you write the code (Maybe it's the install on the server which costs money as needs a licence?) but even so, that must mean there are some limitations and probably provides another reason not to use it.

ive now discovered PHP is very very powerful

PHP is very dynamic and it's one of the best scripting languages out there.

PHP is very powerful...

Microsoft = highly exploitable
Why does microsoft have much more vulnerabilities and exploits found then Linux or Mac? Because the majority of people use it. If Linux or Mac were to become the number one OS I think things would work the other way around. It's all about targetting the majority.

This comes to my conclusion that maybe the IM field is more aware of this and also tend to believe PHP IS a more powerful solution. I have not yet coded anything complicated with it however I've always heard PHP was the better of the 2. Just my 2 cents

Kinda my reason why i started. I was also told that once you can write PHP, C++ is very similar and is then easier to learn as well. I'll have to wait and see about that!

Without meaning to go off topic, you mention Windows vulnerabilities and your belief in why they are there. It may be true as far as desktops go, but something like 80% of the internet is powered by Linux/Unix servers, which would therefore mean they are less secure.

I personally believe the main reason to be that every few years Mr Gates throws the whole operating system he has just created in the bin and starts afresh. With Linux, it's been tinkered with over and over for year upon year, and the OS has evolved to be increasingly more stable and almost bug free as time has gone on. But anyway, i digress, and i don't want to open the "Windows/Linux debate" can of worms. Oops, i think i just have.