Use JS to relieve PHP

Question

Well, I have a PHP file that generates a document (I get it by AJAX). This document goes through some functions (which I did in PHP), such as converting a string to code, adding fields..

Well, for organization purposes, I did everything with PHP these adjustments(then the document is delivered ready, the JS does not need to enter the scene to finish the work after the request).

But what would be the indication? Relieve to the server(memory, less processing, faster delivery.. ??), or if this to the server would be of such little importance(requires little processing) that it is not worth to stick to details but rather preserve a cleaner and simpler maintenance code.

Answer 1

Hello.

First of all I’m going to start by quoting a little thing that people usually say or think when they come across questions like that:

Javascript despite being one of the main web languages, you can never replace PHP in a web application that wants to maintain the total integrity of the data leaving the client for the server and vice versa ( read this if you think I’m wrong ).

Another thing is, relieve with the Javascript, is nothing more than pre-validating data before it is sent to the server according to your question.

The Javascript in itself, serves only to handle animations and dynamization on the client side or control events directly, being that if you leave the Javascript do most of the service, in addition to those that really compete, and then send to the server information and not perform another check, who knows what data you just sent directly to the server, because the Javascript did all the work including the PHP or other language BACKEND in use, and the server merely received them as if he were the one who verified them.

Hence the principle of validating with Javascript and then re-validate with PHP or another language that is acting on the server side. Until the frameworkdo it, but otherwise.

In the end I don’t know if I answered your question, but I hope you understand at least that Javascript should never replace PHP, try to make your script on the server side more efficient.

Answer 2

Validations should be made in PHP (server side) regardless of what happens on the client side (js, html).

To "ease" processes, it is recommended to apply Javascript validations to avoid server requests.

Examples are: Validate email format Validate number of characters Validate numerical or letter-only data

It is worth noting again that regardless of whether there are client-side validations, with Javascript, the same validations should be done on the server side with PHP.

"Relief" is also useful for accessibility. For the user on the client side, it is visually better and performative.

Answer 3

TL;DR: depends a lot on your application and the benefit cost of changing the functionality to the front-end.

Using Javascript to relieve the back-end is good. But whether you should use it or not depends a lot on your application, whether you have an application that is slow in the back end, it is worth leaving more tasks to the front end. If you have a small application that is generating the documents in the back end without performance problems you may not need to modify it and start using JS.

We must take into account the work that will change the application and how much this will imply in performance. If it is a major modification, which will take many hours of work and which will remove little back-end load, then it is not worth it. On the contrary if the modification is not so complex, but rather relieve the server then it is worth doing.

As already mentioned in other answers here, tasks such as data validation should always be done in the back end, can be done in the front end to give a faster feedback to the user, but must be redone in the back end to check the integrity of the data, since if the data were validated only front-end would create the possibility for a malicious user to disable Javascript and make an attack on the site as for example a SQL Injection.

Another important point is that more and more cloud computing services are currently used for hosting, these services typically charge for CPU usage and/or usage time, so the less processing is used, the more economical it becomes. Soon, the more functions are given to the front-end and back-end withdrawals the cheaper the service will be.

Answer 4

_{In my view, the question is about using javascript to do PHP work. A request made with ajax can return data formatted in back-end or may receive a json and format for composing a view. My answer is based on this assumption.}

I will give as an example a simple request containing an array of 2 indexes, only name and surname and formats in JSON, XML and HTML for comparison purposes only.

---

_DATE

 array( array( 'Papa' , 'Charlie' ) , array( 'Papa' , 'Charlie' ) )

_JSON

LENGTH : 39
STING  : [["Papa","Charlie"],["Papa","Charlie"]]

_XML

LENGTH : 191
STING  : <usuarios>
             <usuario><name>Papa</name><lastname>Charlie</lastname></usuario>
             <usuario><name>Papa</name><lastname>Charlie</lastname></usuario>
         </usuarios>

_HTML

LENGTH : 66
STING  : <div>Papa</div><div>Charlie</div><div>Papa</div><div>Charlie</div>

---

An output in HTML will use the server to process the data, and you can display the data using simple functions. It may be the best option when there is little data flow or for those who are not so familiar with javascript. On the other hand, we have a larger data stream and can make the application more trapped.

Data in JSON are easy to work with type object, besides having a much smaller length than the other formats, and this is an interesting point for bandwidth saving. JSON and XML are more flexible and simple to implement webservices, apps, desktop, mobile devices...

I couldn’t find a benchmark of respect that I could use as a comparison effect, but I don’t see such a drawback in the processing time between PHP and javascript as a decisive factor for change. In fact PHP consumes more resources to assemble HTML, while javascript composes at low cost. But to answer which to use or when, depending on the need - reduce traffic, make application more flexible to other platforms... I think are points of greater importance in choosing.

---

_{Some interesting references}

_{• Why is it a bad Practice to Return generated HTML Instead of JSON? Or is it?}

_{• AJAX - Using JSON vs echo HTML}

_{• Why do Facebook, Twitter and Gmail render all their data to the browser as JSON as opposed to HTML?}

_{• PHP vs Node.js: The REAL statistics}

_{• The AJAX Answer: XML, HTML, or JSON?}

_{• Creating HTML: PHP server-side vs. jQuery Clie}

Answer 5

To throw wood on the fire, I can make a "CLEAN" code on the client side until I get to the server side, and continue programming javascript on the server side just use the nodejs.

https://nodejs.org/

So the question of validating on the server or client side will depend on what is validating, if it is something that will not compromise the security of a database, or leave a client-side javascript where it can override a function to change something in such cases leave everything on the server side.

But a validation of type type type your login which is the email, and a function that checks if the email has a @ in the middle of the string, in which case I can quietly play it from the client side.