Despite claims that it has been outclassed by newer alternatives like Javascript or Python, PHP still manages to grow in popularity every year.
Originally an offshoot of C, PHP is one of the oldest languages that is focused on a web development environment.
One of the most popular web hosting and development engines, WordPress, is run on PHP.
With over 30% of the websites in the world running on WordPress, it’s safe to say that PHP can be found in a lot of places if you go looking for it.
Let’s take a look at why PHP is so commonplace in today’s programming landscape.
PHP has been an easy to learn web programming language for everyone. When it comes to the web PHP holds an 82% market share! PHP has lesser learning curve compared to other web technologies.
PHP was basically introduced to create data driven dynamic web pages. And PHP has passed through many major iterations. PHP 7.0 is the latest release.
If you are just starting up you should take note of the current version. All you need to do is to use this latest version of PHP and you are all set for development.
Here are some tips I have for novice PHP programmers or for any programmers who are just starting up with PHP.
Create local server:
As we all know PHP is a server-side scripting language. You may need to install a web server that communicates with PHP and returns results.
Apache is a standard choice for a web server. It’s free and opensource. A combination of Apache and PHP is very popular amongst developers and hosting providers.
PHP Developer Roles and Responsibilities
Create, test and deploy new, innovative website applications with professionalism
Work with CSS, HTML, and JS
Test websites on various devices and browsers
Research and explore various architectural considerations
Communicate and work with other team members to solve conflicts, establish priorities, select the best solutions
Develop plans for keeping the website updated and current at all times
Recommend improvements for performance
Refactor the existing codebase to improve architecture
Provide detailed technical specifications such as product features, budget, programming languages, communication protocols, functionalities, structure, and deadlines
Keep up with the latest programming practices and web technologies
Why Use PHP?
PHP is considered to be highly approachable for web development for many reasons. It’s easy and cheap to set up, making running server-side applications simple to deploy.
PHP is also considered to be easy to work with, making finding talent proficient in it less hard than some other more niche programming languages.
Over the past few decades, a lot of PHP has been maintained and updated to ensure it is still highly functional and relevant. The PHP development team has even updated the language to use object-oriented programming, keeping it competitive with the likes of Java script.
Out of the box, PHP is designed to seamlessly work with the most commonly used database languages such as MySQL. This allows your web development to run smoothly regardless of the amount of data you are dealing with.
Advantages of Using PHP
Open-source
PHP is an open-source programming language which means that developers can use it without paying for it. PHP frameworks are also free to use which makes building web applications faster and easier.
Platform independent
PHP works on all operating systems and does not require any special software for web applications to render on the web browser. Many web applications on the internet still use PHP as their backend technology.
Easy to learn
PHP was designed to be simple and easy to maintain. Developers who have experience working with other programming languages will find PHP a little different but still very easy to pick up.
Database
PHP is used for the backend and can connect to the database very easily. This is because PHP is designed with specific capabilities to facilitate these connections in an efficient way. It’s no surprise the PHP is part of the widely popular LAMP stack.
Performance
PHP’s efficiency with dealing with databases makes it an optimal choice for creating performance web applications that might be accessed by users with a below-average internet connection. PHP is capable of loading websites fast.
Maintenance
PHP uses the MVC architecture to keep code clean and easily maintained.
Security
PHP has built-in features and tools to protect web applications from security threats such as SQL injection, data tampering, and forgery.
Stability
PHP has been around for a long time and is extremely stable in comparison to other modern languages.
Community
PHP has an extremely vibrant community across the internet and Stack Overflow where answers to many questions can be easily found and implemented into your code.