PHP is a programming language, specifically it’s a general- purpose, loosely coupled, scripting language, mainly used for web development. It’s extremely popular because it can be used on most web servers and most operating systems for free.
As of 2021, W3 Tech says that “PHP is used by 79.2% of all the websites whose server- side programming language we know.”
Its history is very different from most other programming languages. It was originally created by someone who wasn’t intending to create a programming language. That’s typically why PHP gets a bad rap, but after a quarter of a century, it has become just as good as any other language.
General Purpose
A general-purpose programming language is used for writing software in a wide variety of application domains.
Scripting Language
There’s nothing bad about a scripting language. You’re not a script-kiddie if you use a scripting language. It just means that they’re interpreted at runtime instead of being compiled. Practically, this means playing around with PHP is a breeze. Make a change. Refresh the page, and, presto, there’s your change. No need to build the entire application.
Functions
Like all programming languages, PHP has many useful functions, and it allows the developer to create custom functions. Functions are blocks of reusable code.
Arrays
Arrays are a breeze to create. You can also create associative arrays and loop through them just like a normal array.
Classes and Objects
PHP also has many mature class features, like interface and abstract classes.
Overall, PHP is a great language to learn, and it has a very low barrier to entry.