Architecture and object-oriented programming capabilities

PHP and ASP.NET have similar traits of architecture and syntax, but PHP works at a lower architectural level than ASP.NET, being based on a platform independent engine which parses PHP scripts and which supports Internet protocol compliance, database connections, and other tasks that are common to most Web application platforms.
On the other hand, ASP.NET is a framework built upon a series of complementing technologies (for example the CLR) and it offers a consistent set of well-organized class libraries that can provide for almost every possible set of functionality desired in a Web application. While PHP may offer a similar capability, in the form of the PEAR libraries, PHP can not really be an analogue for ASP.NET because the latter was built from the start on an OOP strategy and corresponding OOP concepts, a difference that is mostly reflected when using classes and objects in both development tools.

The advantage offered by the built-in OOP context in ASP.NET translates into better designed code for web applications, meaning that they will have a clear separation of content, logic, and data. These facts make the applications easier to be supported on the long term. The native support of ASP.NET towards enterprise technologies like Message Queuing, Transactions, or Web Services provides a simple way for the developer to build highly scalable and robust applications.
 

1. Migrating from PHP to ASP.NET - Introduction
2. Feature comparison
3. Architecture and object oriented programming capabilities
4. Compilation
5. Data and page caching