PHP (an acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely used open-source general-purpose scripting language that is designed for developing dynamic web pages. It is used to manage dynamic content, databases, session tracking, and even build entire e-commerce sites.
PHP is mainly focused on server-side scripting, so it can not only do the tasks any other CGI program can do, such as collect form data, generate dynamic page content, or send and receive cookies, but also can be used to develop client-side Graphical User Interface ( GUI ) applications as well.
It is integrated with a number of popular databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, and Microsoft SQL Server. It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994
Future of PHP
Web development is a fast-evolving domain with frequently emerging trends and new technologies. One of the most prominent programming languages that can effectively implement the latest solutions in web applications is the PHP programming language.
Let us look at the various uses of PHP language in enhancing Web Development:
Web Pages Applications
PHP has a 3-tiered architecture that works on browser, server, and database systems in a linear manner. So PHP helps in achieving a high degree of customization, provides a highly interactive User Interface, and is capable of performing online transactions and integrating with database systems. And because of this only, it is used by more than 75 percent of websites for server-side programming. Even Multitude of Facebook Apps is scripted in PHP.
Decrease the time of Web Development
PHP is partly object-oriented programming, so, just like C++ supports reusability of code, so does PHP, in which codes can be used again for other website development tasks and this helps to save a lot of time for Developers.
Also, Developers have a wide variety of frameworks to choose from for web development, such as Laravel, WordPress, Symphony, etc. which provides different types of functioning features that makes the website developing work secured and speedy.
Web-Based System
There are innumerable types of systems that can be constructed with PHP and these also don’t need to be hosted on the internet. It is possible to run PHP on a local server, with access to only those connected to an internal network.
To name some of the examples of the web-based system developed using PHP :
- Moodle: Free and open-source distance education system.
- Help desk to serve customers.
- Intranet system with login and password for company employees.
GUI – Based Applications
PHP not only serves the purpose of being used as a scripting language for web-based applications, it is also employed for creating desktop Graphical User Interface ( GUI ) based applications. Tools that help to achieve this functionality are PHP-GTK2, DevelStudio, and ZZEE PHP GUI.
eCommerce Applications
Many of the highly used eCommerce platforms such as OpenCart, Magento, PrestaShop, Zen Cart, AgoraCart, and Ubercart, have all been created on PHP. Through the use of frameworks like CodeIgniter and CakePHP, PHP allows the creation of eCommerce applications in a swift and simple manner.
So, we can conclude that PHP is a time-tested programming language that manages to keep the leading positions in web development. And it seems to continue to maintain its popularity in 2021.
It stays at the forefront of web development as it’s constantly developed and upgraded by its creators. It can comply with the requirements of businesses for cutting-edge web applications and offer a variety of tools and frameworks for building the latest technological trends such as chatbots, PWAs, SPAs, and many others.
As we have seen that PHP is much used and I too believe that it is nowhere to go as of now. It may eventually become very less popular maybe after 10 or 20 years and some other coding language may occupy the lead position. But one thing is clear that it does have a future.
The best thing most of them like about PHP is that it is extremely simple for a newcomer, but offers many advanced features for a professional programmer.
Additionally with features like
- Runs on various platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, etc.)
- Is compatible with almost all servers used today (Apache, IIS, etc.)
- Supports a wide range of databases
- Free to download. Get it from the official PHP resource: www.php.net
- PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server-side
And, characteristics like:
- Simplicity
- Flexibility
- Familiarity ( Syntax is C-like )
- Security
- Efficiency
Is the language Alive or Dead?
Since this topic arose, we will try to look at both sides of the coin:
Still a Popular Coding Language
As of early 2020, 26% of programmers are using PHP. Today, it’s one of the most popular server-side programming tools. One of the main reasons that may explain its popularity is the simplicity of this tool. PHP is a relatively easy coding language. That makes it a number-one tool for people who are new at creating websites.
Also, WordPress uses PHP which makes this programming language more important and relevant as the average market share of WordPress is 34% of all websites. Overall, 77 million websites are using WordPress today. So we can see that a variety of shop management systems are still using PHP.
PH7 Version
This version is called the revival of this Programming Language because, in this, some crucially important updates and enhancements were added after which Programmers mostly stopped complaining about this tool.
The greatest benefits of the seventh version are enhanced site speed and much better memory usage. Besides, the new version also included the following improvements:
- New type hinting.
- The capability to use keys in lists.
- Type declarations.
- Faster error handling.
- Nullable types, and much more!
75% of the Web
PHP earned a lot of bad reputation in the 1990s and early 2000s for being insecure, but still, according to a report, PHP appears to be running more than 75% of the web, managing to cling to the title of most used server-side language.
Still Dominating the Web …
As we can see from the graph above, PHP is the most used server-side programming language by far. Approximately 75 percent of all web pages are powered by PHP and this is a far too high number for a language to be dead.
And this is the graph 0f 2019, and the story is still very much the same.
Employment Opportunities
Since most of the web content is powered by PHP, by most I mean > 75 %. So, there is the availability of a lot of Jobs that involve PHP coding. PHP developers are the ones who are needed to maintain the Websites, so plenty of Jobs will be available in the future involving PHP.
Suboptimal Codes
Anything which has been around since 1994 requires updates. But, PHP, updated its codebase but doesn’t have a definite decision as to which codebases are no longer validated. This has made the language cluttered.
There are many ways now to build the same functionality, which makes it easier to write incorrect and bad code in PHP.
Although, it is true that it is easy to get started with PHP mainly due to the presence of old stuff. But if you stay in the comfort zone, you end up with the suboptimal code that is now regarded as a bad practice. And this is the reason some developers hate PHP as it is not clear with this language what solution is the best.
Declining Employment Scenario?
According to most developers, PHP is alive mainly due to its parasitic relationship with WordPress. So, whenever Job requirements are outside the WordPress-related activities, then PHP is not anymore the potential candidate as a language to be considered as a role requirement.
According to a UK-based recruitment agency that published their recruitment demands data, the experience with PHP recruitment shows a consistent downward trend.
Conclusion
We can definitely say that PHP is not dead! Some of the reasons reflecting Language’s Aliveness is :
- Easy to update
- PHP libraries
PHP is quite a popular and widely used programming language, it won’t fade easily. PHP usage will drop down in a slow and steady manner. PHP is its own victim in some cases. PHP death will leave a great impact on eCommerce as these use WordPress. Hosting companies also play a role as they continue to support WordPress as the main CMS of choice, making it much more accessible to general users than other server-side languages like Java and C++.
So, we can conclude that as long as WordPress is alive and kicking PHP is not dying as a lot of PHP legacy code is tied up with older versions of WordPress. And, to sum it up, languages never die, they proliferate.
