Speed Limit Exceeded (PHP, CGI, ASP debate)

Hello. I am posting this message to multiple groups...

I have a very large MySQL table (over 1,000,000 rows, 7 columns) running with my site,
and I need to write a script to bring the called data to the screen in HTML
as quickly as possible.

I have been testing with CGI, learning PHP, and now considering ASP. My current script
(in PHP) takes 30 sec. to load, the CGI (not mod_perl) takes a couple seconds longer.
I don't know what takes the largest proportion of the time, getting the data or running
the script.

Is there any advantages in speed between CGI, mod_perl, PHP, and ASP?
I am attempting to mod_perl my CGI, but I am using a remote server... Thanks!

yoshi
datera@datera.com http://www.datera.com

Go to http://www.zend.com - and check out the stats on PHP4.

PHP3 is (allegedly) faster running as an Apache module than ASP running on you know what - PHP4 is much faster than 3 , with the zend optimiser even faster still.

But as database queries are the most time consuming part of a script, you need to appreciate that side of the equation - PHP has no control over the speed of the database itself.

So optimizing the structure and format of your database is probably where you should be concentrating your efforts.

I have only dealt with MySQL, PostgreSQL, and ODBC (access & paradox) and I have found MySQL the fastest but there are many other great SQL servers out there.

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Simon Wheeler
FirePages -DHTML/PHP/MySQL