PHP (Hypertext Pre Processor)

~Ankit Songara

What is PHP ?

PHP (Hypertext pre processor) is a general purpose scripting language and interpreter that is free available and widely used for web development. The language is used primary for server side scripting language.it was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1993 and released on 1995. PHP was originally an abbreviation of Personal Home Page but it now stands for the recursive initialism PHP: Hypertext Pre Processor. PHP is a open Source scripting programming language. PHP script are execute on the server . PHP is free download and easy used programming language.

When a used for server side scripting ,PHP is added to a web page for the purpose of generate dynamic content when the page is run on the client browser. The web server runs the scripting before translating the page on the browser.

History of PHP :-

PHP is an open source, object-oriented, server side scripting language. PHP was developed by Rasmus Lerdorf in Zend technologies in 1995 to crate real time dynamic website.

Rasmus Lerdorf wrote the PHP language to maintain a personal home page, then later upgraded it to communicate with the database and the file system that works with web forms. This implementation was knows as PHP/FI( personal home page/Form interpreter ),later this name was changed to Hypertext Pre Processor. It is estimated that by the end of 1996 PHI was use on the least 15,000 Web sites worldwide. The latest version is PHP 8.0.3. Which has been upgraded in March 2021.

Why use PHP?

PHP is a very popular language because it is simple and open source. There are many convincing reasons for why you should be using PHP.

Some of them being:-

It is easy to install and run.
It is open source and therefor free.
It is fast and secure.
It run on various platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix etc.).
PHP can access cookies variable and set cookies.

Features of PHP

We have learned about PHP and its uses. But what are the features that make PHP.

Simplicity :- PHP is particular famous for its simplicity. It is organized and easy to learn. Even beginners won’t face and hard time learning and using PHP. It is a very well-organized programing Language, and it comes with a lot of pre-defined functions, which makes the task of the programmer easy. There is no need to include libraries in PHP like C. with a lot of pre-defined functions, PHP is easy to optimize us.
Flexibility :- PHP script can run on any device- mobiles tablet or PC. It is very compatible with various database. It can be easily embedded and integrated into HTML, XML and JavaScript.it is also compatibles with almost all servers used today like Apache ,IIS etc.
Object Oriented :- PHP supports object oriented programming features like data encapsulation, inheritance, abstraction, polymorphism etc. The Object Oriented programming features was added in PHP5. This features helping in building complex reusable web pages and makes PHP comparable to powerful object oriented language like Java and Python.
Interpreted Language :- PHP is an interpreted language, which means there is no need for compilation. Interpreters run through a program line by line and execute the code. Since interpreters execute source code themselves, the code becomes platform-independent. Some other benefits of interpreted language include dynamic typing and short executable program size.
Efficient :- PHP is a versatile, reliable, and efficient programming language. The memory management of PHP is very efficient. Great session management, eliminating unnecessary memory allocation, are some of the features that make PHP efficient.
Fast Performance :- PHP scrips are usually faster than other scripting languages. Users can load their web pages faster, and they love it. PHP code runs faster than most of programming languages because it runs in its own memory space. Not only that, but its connection with databases is also fast and efficient.
Free and open Source :- PHP is open-source, which means it can be downloaded and used freely. There is absolutely no hassle to acquire a license to use it and no payment is required to use.
Case sensitive :- s a partially case-sensitive language. Although functions names are not case-sensitive, other things in PHP are case-sensitive. The following things in PHP are case-sensitive:
- Variable names
- Constructs (if, if-else, if-elseif, while, do-while)
- Keywords (such as true and false)
- User-defined functions and class names
Security :- PHP offers various security features and functions to help developers build secure applications. This includes data encryption, input validation, and session management. However, it’s crucial to follow best security practices

Advantages of PHP

Open-source and Free-to-use :- PHP is an open-source language, which means it is free to use by developers. It is also one of the oldest scripting languages that are used by many popular brands. It does not require any fee to use frameworks, libraries, and databases.
Easy to Learn and Use :- PHP has a vast set of tutorials, resources, and other insights that anyone can use to learn this language effortlessly. At the same time, the Graphical User Interface (GUI) made this language easy to use.
Platform Independent :- PHP language can be easily downloaded and is compatible with various platforms and operating systems. Being the interpreted language, it executes the code itself, making it platform-independent.
Scalability :- If you want to develop a website, you must be looking for ways to enhance your business. Therefore, in the long run, you will add new features and functionalities to your web application. With the help of this scripting language, you can complete this task. Not only can you focus on faster loading websites but integrate with other technologies to enhance the performance.

Disadvantages of PHP

Limited Customization :- You can create an intuitive website and web application using PHP, and it allows customization and integration to some extent. However, if your project demands the incorporation of technologies like machine learning, AR/VR, big data, etc., you might need to find another language to use.
Less Versatility :- With PHP, you get less opportunity to make modifications to the website. Therefore, you might not be able to keep up with the required creative challenge of a website. Also, as compared to other languages, PHP is less effective and slower to work with.
Less Debugging Options :- The simple syntax makes PHP a perfect solution for building a dynamic website. However, with restrained debugging opportunities, it does not handle errors well. Since the debugging tools do not identify errors properly, debugging is a difficult task as compared to other programming languages.