PHP is a programming language which allows dynamic content to be used on
a web page. It is used along with the HTML programming language when
creating pages, although web pages containing PHP end with “.php” as
opposed to “.htm” or “.html” PHP is extremely popular, especially since
it can be used to retrieve database information by executing queries
built in the MySQL programming language.
You may be wondering why so many websites use PHP as their coding programming. Below are some of the compelling reasons:
- PHP is open source and free.
- Short learning curve compared to other languages such as JSP, ASP etc.
- Large community document
- Most web hosting servers support PHP by default unlike other languages such as ASP that need IIS. This makes PHP a cost effective choice.
- PHP is regularly updated to keep abreast with the latest technology trends.
- Other benefit that you get with PHP is that it’s a server side scripting language; this means you only need to install it on the server and client computers requesting for resources from the server do not need to have PHP installed; using a web browser would be enough.
- PHP has in built support for working hand in hand with MySQL; in addition, you can also use other database management systems such as:
- PostgreSQL
- Oracle
- MS SQL Server
- ODBC etc.
- PHP is cross platform; this means you can deploy your application on a number of different operating systems such as windows, Linux, Mac OS etc.