HTML or PHP- which should I use?

[PATRICIAF5]

Hi!
I've been working as a web professional for years but there is one thing I don't understand.

Is there any reason for any web developer to chose html pages over php or asp pages? A php page does everything that html page does and some more- you can manage cookies, manage users, server variables and force downloads. Plus php pages are capable of literally thousands of scripts.

So then is html better than php and how? I an working on a new website which has all its pages in html. I am wondering if I should change them all to php.

[debasri]

Hi!
There are several differences between the two and their functions differ as well. It depends whether your website pages are application based.

Firstly, php simply fetches and processes data; and html just shows the data. So if you have to perform operations like development, manage data in databases or manage scripts, html is of no use.
Php on the other hand can access databases to fetch content. However php cannot display that data without html. To view the data properly, you still have to use html.
Don't change the pages to php unless data needs to pass between the pages.

[WebMaster]

Hi!
I have a different approach to the question- do you want to change the complete page script or just the extension?
Only php pages can access databases like mysql, then the pages end with .php. But in case of some dynamic web pages, you can see all the pages end in .html- but it is quite possible that those pages are also written in php. You can do that simply through rewrite and change .php to .html without changing the script or functions of the script.