What is PHP and Why we use it ? Last Updated : 23 Jul, 2025 Comments Improve Suggest changes Like Article Like Report What is PHP? PHP(short for Hypertext PreProcessor) is the most widely used open source and general purpose server side scripting language used mainly in web development to create dynamic websites and applications. It was developed in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf. A survey by W3Tech shows that almost 79% of the websites in their data are developed using PHP. It is not only used to build the web apps of many tech giants like Facebook but is also used to build many CMS (Content Management System) like WordPress, Drupal, Shopify, WooCommerce etc. Why to use PHP? PHP can actually do anything related to server-side scripting or more popularly known as the backend of a website. For example, PHP can receive data from forms, generate dynamic page content, can work with databases, create sessions, send and receive cookies, send emails etc. There are also many hash functions available in PHP to encrypt user’s data that makes PHP secure and reliable to be used as a server-side scripting language. So these are some of the abilities of PHP that makes it suitable to be used as server-side scripting language. You will get to know more of these abilities in further tutorials. Even if you are not convinced by the above abilities of PHP, there are some more features of PHP. PHP can run on all major operating systems like Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS X etc. Almost all of the major servers available today like Apache supports PHP. PHP allows using wide range of databases. And the most important factor is that it is free to use and download and anyone can download PHP from its official source: www.php.net. Who are using it? Big Tech Giants like Facebook, Slack, Lyft etc.Content Management System like WordPress, Drupal etc.E-Commerce Platforms like Magento and many more. Advantages: Platform IndependentOpen source and dynamic Library supportOrganizedDatabase ConnectivityEasy to understand and codeGives Web Developer More ControlEasy integration and consistencyMaintenanceStabilityPerformanceReliabilityScalabilityCompatibility Comment More infoAdvertise with us Next Article PHP Syntax R rbbansal Follow Improve Article Tags : Web Technologies PHP PHP-Misc Similar Reads PHP Tutorial PHP is a popular, open-source scripting language mainly used in web development. It runs on the server side and generates dynamic content that is displayed on a web application. PHP is easy to embed in HTML, and it allows developers to create interactive web pages and handle tasks like database mana 9 min read BasicsPHP SyntaxPHP, a powerful server-side scripting language used in web development. It’s simplicity and ease of use makes it an ideal choice for beginners and experienced developers. This article provides an overview of PHP syntax. PHP scripts can be written anywhere in the document within PHP tags along with n 4 min read PHP VariablesA variable in PHP is a container used to store data such as numbers, strings, arrays, or objects. The value stored in a variable can be changed or updated during the execution of the script.All variable names start with a dollar sign ($).Variables can store different data types, like integers, strin 5 min read PHP | FunctionsA function in PHP is a self-contained block of code that performs a specific task. It can accept inputs (parameters), execute a set of statements, and optionally return a value. PHP functions allow code reusability by encapsulating a block of code to perform specific tasks.Functions can accept param 8 min read PHP LoopsIn PHP, Loops are used to repeat a block of code multiple times based on a given condition. 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