PHP is the most common programming language used for developing a website. There are many benefits of PHP in the development of dynamic website pages.
Looking at the history, it was released in 1995, over two decades ago. It was developed by dedicated PHP experts in Zend Technologies, and powered by Rasmus Lerdorf. It is an open-source software powered by Zend Engine.
It also supports multiple platforms and a variety of operating systems. A study states that as of January 2023, PHP is used for over 77% of website development as the server-side programming language.
- Do you want to know more reasons why businesses prefer PHP-supported websites?
- What benefits do you get from PHP-supported websites?
- Are there any limitations to using the PHP programming language?
Let’s discuss this in detail-
What is the PHP language?
In the beginning, PHP was written using the C programming language in terms of a simple set of the Common Gateway Interface (CGI). Initially, it was known as the “Personal Home Page”. Now it has got a complete makeover and is known as the “PHP/FI: Hypertext Preprocessor/Forms Interpreter”.
HTML tags and PHP scripting codes are part of a normal PHP file. In every HTML page, PHP code is enclosed within PHP tags. Thus, PHP tags are used to compute the HTML pages and interpret the section.
It is useful in web content management systems, web template systems, and web frameworks. Apart from the business website context, it is used for many programming tasks such as graphic designing, robotic drone control, and more.
Thus, the new update PHP/FI can be used to develop numerous dynamic websites. The additional updates include Perl-like variables, embedding HTML code, and form handling.
Let’s understand how PHP is still useful in 2023-
Why is PHP Web Development Useful in 2023?
The most common use of PHP script is to create dynamic web pages. This object-oriented language is different from other scripting languages. In December 2022, it got its release in the form of PHP 8.2. Thus, further improving its compatibility with other web development technologies.
Further, it can be used to encrypt data, control user access, send & receive cookies, modify data in the database management systems, and perform multiple actions on files on the server. PHP can also output HTML files, images, pdf files, and XHTML & XML text files.
Nowadays, PHP can also be used for desktop GUI (graphical user interface) and cloud services. SDKs (Software Development Kits) are also provided for cloud-computing solutions. For example, Amazon Web Services provide AWS SDK and Microsoft Azure with Windows Azure SDK for PHP.
With extensive libraries and numerous frameworks, the PHP web application displays excellent compatibility to achieve excellent scalability when deployed on the cloud server. Such frameworks are Zend Framework, Laravel, Yii, Symfony, etc.
The desktop applications that were created on PHP are WordPress and Facebook. Both website applications are the most popular and widely used.
Business Benefits of Using PHP Web Development
1. Open Source Nature:
PHP is open-source software released by Zend technologies under the PHP license. Therefore, PHP developers can use it for free, i.e. no need to acquire the license. So, web development service providers can hire experienced PHP developers and start working on web development technologies.
2. Simple and easy to understand:
The PHP syntax is the same as many other programming languages such as Python, C, and Java. However, It is much easier. Thus, it is easy to use, scalable, flexible, understandable, and well-organized one.
3. Cross-platform Language:
It is platform-independent and can run on multiple operating systems such as Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, RISC OS, etc. It also Integrates easily with various database management systems and supports web servers such as Apache, Microsoft IIS, and a lot more.
Thus, PHP saves a lot of time and money while developing website pages. Also, a PHP developer takes less time in modifying a traditional HTML page.
4. Object-oriented Programming Language:
This server-side scripting language can call objects and create custom classes that extend its capabilities. Data encapsulation, polymorphism, abstraction, and inheritance are a few object-oriented programming features. Besides, the PHP community is the most active and quite a large community among others.
5. PHP Frameworks:
The PHP community is very large, which indicates that you will never have any problem with resources. There are a lot of PHP frameworks that are available to help you with other web development technologies. They are Laravel, Symfony, Zend, Codeigniter, CakePHP, and Yii frameworks.
6. Easy integration w/ Other Programming Languages:
The integration of PHP with the present software component of the company is easy. So there is no requirement for re-coding and re-developing for the present software. It is also an interpreted language with a short executable program size and dynamic typing.
7. Diverse Range of Extensions:
Extensions play a significant role in the PHP web development process as it helps in managing and code modification of the source files. PHL also offers a defined way of writing custom extensions in C or C++ while offering ways to improve execution speed.
8. Reliable & Community Support:
We know that PHP is easy to develop and the two features that make it more portable are- Active community support and reliability. It is one of the best coding languages for encryption and decryption. PHP developers can use several encryption methods like hashing, secret key encryption, and envelope encryption. All these encryption methods have their own algorithms to perform.
9. Speed and stability:
The best thing about using PHP for web development is that it uses its own memory to speed up the loading process. Also, this platform-independent language has many years of experience, making it a stable and one of the most preferred programming languages.
Hence, these benefits make web development service providers use PHP language to develop web apps. Also, command-line scripting is helpful in executing the PHP codes directly.
Limitations of Using PHP in a Web Application
-
Versatility Issue
A PHP website is not compatible with the latest technological innovations. For example, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, etc. Thus, it is better to choose other popular programming tools for extensive and complex projects.
-
Fewer Debugging Tools
Compared to other scripting languages, it has fewer debugging tools. It also doesn’t perform error analysis well. It is the major drawback of using the PHP language.
-
Framework Modification Issue
Even though it offers flexibility, still it has limitations. PHP frameworks can not be modified and changed once the business website is complete. I.e. the core behaviour of PHP Frameworks in a business website will stay the same.
-
Less Secure
Being open-source, the ASCII text file of a web page is available to everyone. So, anyone can see the HTML code and bugs in that code. And, that can be a threat to security.
-
More Complex than Some Other Languages
These days, much simpler languages have come into the market such as Python, Dart, etc. Another easy general-purpose language to learn instead of PHP is C.
How Much does PHP Web Development Cost?
It is certain that PHP provides cost-effective solutions being an open-source programming language. You also need to hire highly skilled developers to take full advantage of this language. Thus, you can easily open your online store for eCommerce businesses.
Though, the development and maintenance project cost differs from region to region. You must find those web development service providers who offer cost-effective solutions.
Future Possibilities of PHP to be in demand in the Coming Years?
Though the tech world has much simpler, easy-to-use, and secure languages, like Python. Still, PHP is widely used worldwide for effective CMS websites. The recent update in PHP makes it more compatible with various graphic design applications and robotic drone applications.
People have been widely using the PHP language for various web application development projects. Thus, it is clear that this server-side scripting language is going to stay for much longer than most people anticipate.
Conclusion
By knowing the benefits of PHP web apps for businesses, the language is no sooner fading away, and its popularity is increasing daily. So if you are looking for web development services to develop desktop applications, you must either hire PHP experts or a software web development company. They will provide a dedicated team to fulfil all your business website development needs.
You can also easily find the best PHP web services in your locale. You must also stay updated with ever-changing market trends.
