Over 33 million active websites are using PHP today, with a total of over 87 million websites that have used PHP since its inception. From tiny blogs to applications at scale, PHP has driven millions of websites for decades. Powering websites like WordPress, Wikipedia, etc. PHP remains one of the most popular server-side scripting languages as of 2025. Despite all the criticism, PHP has survived and has been challenged by newer languages, but it still manages to evolve and prove its relevance.
A Brief History of PHP
PHP started in 1994 as Rasmus Lerdorf’s project to count hits on his web resume. It was initially called “Personal Home Page Tools,” which was later shortened to “PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor.” PHP, over the years, evolved from a collection of Perl scripts into a complete, server-side scripting language.
PHP 7 launch saw a very significant performance and efficiency improvement, and with PHP 8 and beyond, the Language included such features as JIT compilation, union types, called arguments, and enhanced error handling—faster and more robust than ever before.
Main Features of PHP
PHP’s timeless popularity is because of its blend of usability, flexibility, and robustness. Some of its key features are:
- Ease of Use: PHP is simple to learn, with a straightforward syntax that’s easy to understand.
- Interpreted Language: no need to compile as it is, Compile-free—just write, upload, and run.
- Platform Agnostic: PHP can be run on almost any server, from shared hosting to cloud.
- Massive Ecosystem: From content management systems like WordPress to frameworks like Laravel and Symfony, PHP has an enormous ecosystem.
- Built-in Database Support: Supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, and more natively.
- Embedded in HTML: You can embed PHP in HTML directly, making it simple to render dynamic content.
How to Use PHP?
To write and run PHP, you need three basic pieces of equipment:
- PHP Parser: This interprets your PHP script into a machine-readable syntax tree that can be executed.
- Web Server: A server (such as Apache or Nginx) runs PHP files and serve out the result as web pages.
- Web Browser: The browser displays the resulting webpage on which you can play with the PHP-generated content like any webpage.
Libraries and Frameworks
PHP libraries and frameworks are priceless tools for web development in the present era. They provide pre-coded functions and utilities that simplify work like database access, file processing, and emailing. By handling the mundane activities, they allow programmers to work more on building core features and improving application performance.
Common Use Cases
PHP powers a diverse set of applications, including:
- Dynamic Websites: Blogs to news sites.
- Content Management Systems: WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal dominate this space.
- E-commerce Platforms: Magento, WooCommerce, and PrestaShop rely extensively on PHP.
- Web Applications: In-house software and custom applications are typically created using PHP frameworks.
- APIs & Microservices: Modern PHP frameworks support RESTful APIs and serverless deployment.
- Cloud Functions: PHP is also now supported for cloud-native deployments using platforms like AWS Lambda and Google Cloud Functions.
Benefits of Using PHP
PHP survives because of a variety of strong advantages:
Rapid Development:
PHP has a vast library of pre-existing functions and libraries that are properly maintained, enabling developers to implement features swiftly without needing to program them from scratch. This reduces the development time significantly and accelerates project completion, which makes PHP ideal for startups and businesses with strict deadlines.
Massive Pool of Talent:
Because there are so many PHP programmers all over the world, finding good professionals is not very hard, either for short projects or long-term projects. Such a large pool of talent also promotes sharing information, collaboration, and continuous optimization of best practices among the community of PHP developers.
Strong Frameworks
Well-known frameworks like Laravel, Symfony, and CodeIgniter come with robust utilities, MVC patterns, and built-in features of templating, routing, and security. The frameworks enforce tidy code, scalability, and get developers in conformity with robust industry standards and patterns of design.
Widespread Hosting Support
PHP has received the backing of almost all of the leading web hosting firms, so hosting your applications would not cause much trouble to you. This excellent level of compatibility reduces infrastructure cost and installation time, making it easy for developers as well as companies.
Backwards Compatibility:
PHP is well backward compatible, and thus older code bases can be transitioned step by step instead of replacing them whole. This is very helpful for maintenance and legacy system modernization without impacting ongoing operations.
Lively Community
PHP’s dynamic global foundation also exposes it to a treasure trove of tutorials, forums, open-source utilities, and extensive documentation. Whether you’re new to PHP or a seasoned, experienced developer, you’ll have ample resources and assistance at your fingertips to debug, update, and refine your skills.
Drawbacks of PHP
Though strong, PHP has its cons:
Unstructured Legacy Code:
Most of the original PHP applications were created without modern development methods or frameworks, and thus, they were composed of unstructured and troubled codebases. Legacy applications tend to be difficult to scale or debug and involve enormous effort to refactor or port.
Inconsistent Function Naming
PHP’s library functions have traditionally used inconsistent naming conventions (e.g., str_replace vs strpos), which is confusing to developers, especially newcomers. This inconsistency complicates learning and can lead to bugs or inefficient code if not carefully managed.
Old Reputation:
Despite major improvements in later releases, PHP carries an outdated image among some programmers due to earlier issues with performance and security. These arguments give little attention to PHP’s capabilities today and the sophisticated frameworks that it now employs.
Not Trendy
Unlike trendy languages such as JavaScript or Python, PHP doesn’t get the same popularity or trendiness in today’s tech industry. This non-trendiness could potentially deter new programmers, though it’s still a helpful and popular language.
PHP vs HTML: What’s the Difference?
HTML and PHP play distinct functions in web development. HTML is client-side scripting, and it determines the formatting and layout of a web page, text, images, and look. PHP is a server-side scripting language for developing interactive and dynamic web pages.
- HTML builds the static layout of the page, determining what users view.
- PHP adds functionality, which makes the web page interactive by reacting to inputs and processing information.
- PHP may be embedded in HTML to do server-side calculations, but HTML cannot be embedded in PHP.
- There are alternatives to PHP, but HTML is still required to render content produced by PHP on the web.
PHP 4 and PHP 5
PHP 4
PHP 4 was a major release in the history of PHP. It was the first version supported by the Zend Engine, making it possible to execute encoded files from Zend Optimizer. PHP 4 also included superglobals such as $_GET, $_POST, and $_SESSION, which made data handling in web applications much easier.
PHP 5
PHP 5 provided better object-oriented programming (OOP) features, enhancing security and performance. It attempted to go beyond the shortcomings of PHP 3 without being considerably backward incompatible. It did not have native Unicode and multibyte string support.
Popular Company Using PHP
- Facebook: The early versions of Facebook and the majority of its backend functionalities were coded in PHP.
- GeeksforGeeks: PHP is utilized to build the entire GeeksforGeeks portal.
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia employs PHP to create dynamic web content and handle databases.
- Slack: PHP is utilized by Slack for server-side backend scripting and handling user interactions.
- Etsy: PHP is utilized by Etsy for the online store, product descriptions, and transactions.
- Tumblr: PHP drives Tumblr’s dynamic blog and content management system.
- Yahoo: PHP is utilized by Yahoo for web services as well as dynamic content rendering.
- Shopify: Shopify utilizes PHP to run its e-commerce backend as well as platform integrations.
- Mailchimp: Mailchimp utilizes PHP to aid in email marketing processes and customer management.
PHP Vs Other Programming Languages
| Feature | PHP | Python | Node.js |
| Type | Interpreted | Interpreted | Interpreted |
| Programming Paradigm | Multi-paradigm: procedural, object-oriented | Multi-paradigm: object-oriented, procedural, functional | Event-driven, non-blocking I/O, single-threaded |
| Memory Management | Automatic (via garbage collection) | Automatic (via garbage collection) | Automatic (via garbage collection) |
| Syntax | Straightforward and easy to learn | Clean and readable | Simple and JavaScript-based |
| Typical Use Cases | Server-side scripting, web development, CMS, e-commerce systems | Web development, automation, data science, machine learning | Real-time applications, RESTful APIs, web development |
| Community Support | Large and active developer community | Strong and diverse developer base | Vibrant and growing community |
| Performance | Moderate | Moderate | High (thanks to asynchronous, non-blocking I/O) |
| Concurrency Model | Synchronous, blocking I/O | Synchronous, blocking I/O | Asynchronous, event-driven |
| Popular Frameworks | Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter, WordPress | Django, Flask | Express.js, NestJS, Koa.js |
What is PHP’s role in Web Development?
PHP is an acronym that stands for an extremely robust server-side scripting language heavily employed in web development for developing dynamic, web-based applications with interaction. Its potential for supporting a great number of technologies and databases helps developers develop complicated, big-time solutions.
Best suited for use on sites such as e-commerce websites, content management systems, and web portals, PHP is great at database processing, file management, and efficiently processing user data. It allows developers to provide rich, user-centric web experiences.
Thanks to a robust community support base and constant updates, PHP is a stable and dynamic force in contemporary web development.
Why You Should Learn PHP Today
PHP is not the most thrilling addition to the toolbox, but it’s definitely among the most useful. Here are reasons why learning PHP in 2025 is worth it:
- WordPress Supremacy: WordPress, which powers more than 40% of the web, is constructed using PHP.
- Freelancing & Job Market: PHP developers are increasingly in demand to build or update existing sites and applications.
- Startup Friendly: PHP is cheap and fast to use for rapid prototyping and rapid MVPs.
- Language Feature Improvements: PHP 8+ closed most of the gaps with modern development practices.
- Widespread Adoption: A gigantic ecosystem ensures you’ll hardly ever get confronted with a problem that was not solved earlier.
Career, Jobs, and Salary
| Career | Average Salary (USD) Per Annum |
| PHP Developer | $60,000 – $110,000 |
| Front-End Developer | $65,000 – $120,000 |
| Full Stack Developer | $75,000 – $130,000 |
| Back-End Developer | $70,000 – $125,000 |
| Web Developer | $55,000 – $100,000 |
| Laravel Developer | $70,000 – $125,000 |
| Symfony Developer | $75,000 – $135,000 |
| WordPress Developer | $55,000 – $100,000 |
| PHP Software Engineer | $65,000 – $120,000 |
How to Learn PHP
12 weeks of a schedule is perfect for mastering PHP:
- Weeks 1–2: Start with the basics—variables, types, operators.
- Week 3: Learn how functions work in PHP.
- Weeks 4–5: Apply your knowledge through beginner-level projects.
- Weeks 6–7: Explore arrays, superglobals, and session handling.
- Week 8: Learn from handling and validation techniques.
- Week 9: Understand file handling in PHP.
- Week 10: Build intermediate-level projects.
- Week 11: Dive into object-oriented programming.
- Week 12: Focus on error handling and advanced topics.
By the end, you’ll be equipped to create dynamic and interactive web applications with PHP.
Conclusion: A Veteran Still in the Game
PHP has endured through the ages and continues to power several websites. With modern frameworks, ongoing development, and a passionate following, it’s far from being outdated. Regardless of whether you’re creating a new application, messing around with WordPress, or maintaining legacy applications, PHP is still a reasonable, inexpensive, and powerful web programming language.
In a time when so many utilities come and go, PHP has endured. It’s not only the Language that built the web—it’s what’s going to make it run.
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