My experience with JavScript and PHP as a junior web developer.

Community support and resource for PHP and JavaScript

JavaScript have larger community support and resources such as libraries, frameworks, tutorials and learning materials.

This could be debatable but numbers don't lie, you can literally see the numbers of tutorial uploaded everyday related to JavaScript compared to PHP language, or amount of JavaScript frameworks dominating the modern web development.

Installation hell and get started with PHP

When it comes to learning or developing with PHP as beginner, I have realised the only way you could run a PHP is via web server solution(XAMPP)/development environment(Laragon)/or Live Server(non DB connected code).

And to download one, is not a child's play. You required to be tech savvy or at least able to read documentation for several time in order to have successful PHP installation in your machine/laptop.

Don't believe? Get a laptop without any programming language installed in it, and try to run a PHP script vs a JavaScript(No installation needed, you can run JavaScript literally at your browser)

Access to DOM

When you are developing a website / or web application using PHP as your dominant stack. You are forced to write jQuery(a JavaScript library) to manipulate your DOM, or use internal JavaScript script tags to access DOM Node to add any kind of event listeners.

Control over frontend side of the application

Even Laravel the most popular free, open-source PHP framework integrates with Vue.js(a JavaScript framework) to aid the frontend reactivity and to enhance SPA web development speed.

Laravel does have a framework of its own, which is LiveWire uses AlpineJS(built with Javascript as well).

Final thoughts

If you have started working with JavaScript as a beginner, you will never come across PHP language. But if you, started as a beginner with PHP for web development, be ready to face JavaScript as it dominates the web development even in PHP's own ecosystem.

These are my personal thoughts and experiences with both PHP and JavaScript. I have learnt PHP way earlier than JavaScript and I have spend almost equal time with both development language.

I welcome all open minds to share your thoughts on post and eager to know your point of view too.