PHP Definition: We Unpack What This Server Side Language Is All About

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PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, as it is formally known, is one of the most common programming languages used on the web. As a server-side scripting language, PHP code is executed on a web server in order to generate a webpage dynamically. PHP is the programming language behind some of the most popular server utilities, website-building applications, and content management systems including phpMyAdmin, Drupal, MediaWiki, Joomla!, Magento, and WordPress (although the WordPress core is expected to transition to JavaScript in the coming years).

Virtually all web servers offer support for various versions of PHP. PHP is particularly well-supported by low-cost shared hosting, and PHP applications can usually be installed on entry-level hosting plans. PHP, along with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and both Ruby on Rails and Python to a lesser degree, is one of the fundamental programming languages every web developer is expected to master.

Also See: Script, JavaScript

Frequently Asked Questions

When was PHP originally developed?

The orginal version of PHP was developed beginning in 1994, and announced to the programming community on Usenet in 1995. Rasmus Lerdorf, the programmer who created the first version of PHP, originally developed the language to work with web forms and databases on his personal website. For this reason, he originally called the language Personal Home Page Tools (PHP Tools).

When Lerdorf released PHP, he never intended for it to grow into a full-blown programming language. However, over time it became desirable for additional features to be added to the language, and PHP grew from being a simple toolset to a robust programming language. Unfortunately, due to the haphazard development process, and the lack of any formal planning during the early days of development, PHP suffers from a number of inconsistencies in the naming of functions and the ordering of parameters, leading some programmers to have a high level of disdain for working with PHP.

When was the name changed from Personal Home Page to PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor?

When PHP3 was released in 1997 the meaning of PHP was reworked from Personal Home Page to PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor to reflect the fact that PHP had grown from being a simple limited set of tools to a general purpose programming language.

What is a server side language?

When a web browser requests a web page there are two places programming languages can be processed in order to produce the page: on the web server that hosts the website, or by the browser. All major browsers are capable of processing client-side languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. However, other languages, notably PHP, Ruby on Rails, Python, and even JavaScript in certain cases, are processed by the web server, and the results of that process sent to the browser to form the web page.

Server side programming languages are languages that are processed by the web server rather than by the browser.