When discussing the development of modern-day web applications, PHP is always a part of the discussion. It is the backbone of many prominent and robust frameworks in the market, such as Laravel, CakePHP, and others. These frameworks facilitate the development of highly complex web applications with uncountable features and functionalities.
PHP’s popularity among developers has dwindled in recent years due to a lack of security and flexibility. Alternative technologies such as Rust, Python, and JavaScript were also a significant factor. According to the Stack Overflow 2020 study, Python was the most popular programming language in 2020. However, after a few revisions and version upgrades, PHP now accounts for about 78% of the internet, with over 244 million websites in operation.
In this article, we will go through different aspects of PHP and what makes it a preferable choice for developers, starting with the introduction.
What is PHP?
Hypertext Preprocessor, commonly known as PHP, is a server-side scripting language that is specially curated for web development. It is an open-source language, i.e., you can download and use it for free of cost. PHP is an easy-to-learn language that is executed on a server. PHP Development Company that you can integrate with any database, such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Sybase, and Informix. A vast number of websites built using WordPress are managed using PHP. It supports main protocols like HTTP Basic, HTTP Digest, IMAP, FTP, and others.
Popular websites such as Facebook and Yahoo are also built using PHP. One of the primary reasons for this is that PHP can be easily inserted in HTML files, and HTML codes can be written within a PHP file.
Why is PHP so popular?
Do you know that PHP is used by 76.5% of all the websites whose server-side programming language we know? The other languages like ASP.net, Ruby, Java, and JavaScript are not even closer to this figure.
While these competitor languages are more commonly used in high-traffic websites, PHP remains the dominant language on over 60% of the world’s top 1,000 websites.
Though these data continue to demonstrate PHP’s dominance in server-side scripting, it is gradually declining. However, when a language is used on more than 75% of the web, even a trending shift away from its use will take years to affect the rankings.
Why do Developers Choose PHP for Web Development?
These are the main factors that compel developers to use Web Development:
1. Free and Open-source:
PHP is an open-source licensed language, i.e., it is free to use and distribute. You can download, develop, and build your website of any scale without paying a single penny. That’s why it has built a massive community to hire php developer. Furthermore, many popular frameworks like Laravel and Symfony are built using PHP and are free to use.
2. Easy to Learn:
The documentation of PHP is so easy that even a beginner can quickly learn this language. The learning curve of PHP is shallow. Its documentation gives an extensive reference to the language and its syntax. You just need to search, and you will get results from thousands of PHP-related blogs, tutorials, e-books, and other online resources. Most of this information is available to the public for free of cost, making PHP an excellent choice for a newbie developer.
3. Security
The security of even a static website is a foremost concern. Whatever the platform or language is, the developer’s first priority is to develop with high security and follow best practices like SSL certificates, OAuth 2.0, etc. PHP is secure, like any other language, but it should be written perfectly for the utmost security of your web application.
4. Performance and Scalability:
PHP is still used in websites like Facebook and has played a significant role in the website industry for almost three decades. Such an overwhelming presence reflects the reliability and versatility of the language. PHP is a reliable language in aspects of stability and performance, particularly with how it manages content and how well it can scale to support multiple user requests.
5. Support for Other Frameworks:
PHP is a versatile language, i.e., it can easily integrate with other programming languages. The developers can even develop PHP extensions using the C language, which extends the functionality of PHP web applications.
PHP also provides a large number of libraries and frameworks that expand its capabilities. The most popular frameworks these days are Laravel, Symfony, Laminas, and Yii.
6. PHP for Web Development:
PHP is easily embeddable in HTML, making it an excellent choice for developing a market-ready online application. Because it is a flexible language, you can also use it for other things. In most circumstances, a PHP script does not interfere with the web page’s HTML code but instead completes it while remaining inside the boundaries specified by tags, and vice versa.
Wrapping Up
PHP will always be the driving factor for web applications. It is powering millions of websites, and thousands of developers are embracing it for the above-mentioned reasons. At Octal IT Solutions, the best web development company in India, our experts have vast experience in developing web applications using PHP and its frameworks like Laravel, CodeIgniter, CakePHP, Yii, and others. We have expertise in developing web apps with complex features and functionalities from scratch. Let us know your requirements.
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