Originally created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994, PHP is a general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited to web development.
PHP is open source, meaning that everyone has free access to the source code and can use it for their own development purposes. One of the most popular languages on the web, PHP is the language behind open source content management systems such as Joomla and WordPress.
PHP is known as a server-sided language, meaning that the code is executed by the computer you requested the page from. The results are then handed over to you, and displayed in your browser. With PHP, you can do things like create username and password login pages, check details from a form, create forums, picture galleries, surveys, and a lots more.
There has been an enormous increase in PHP adoption and many large web applications have been developed in PHP. PHP has many benefits:
1) The fast, flexible and pragmatic nature of PHP allows you to implement complex solutions quickly.
2)PHP runs on practically any platform and seamlessly integrates with other technologies (e.g. Java), allowing you to re-use your current software components.
3)PHP also offers great flexibility, allowing you to implement changes even after starting development, without losing valuable time.
4)Due to the popularity of PHP, there is an abundance of free resources available, allowing you to use code and extensions created by other developers.
