Today, the need for digitalization is constantly increasing in organizations worldwide. Many businesses are building an online presence to provide their consumer’s needs. As such, having a website for your business is a must to ensure growth and stay competitive. However, when building a website, you need to find the latest and most trusted programming language to develop your website.

And one of the most popular and trusted programming languages is PHP. The programming language is growing abundant and is still widely used by websites globally. According to w3techs, PHP is used by 77.8% of all websites today. PHP is also famous for many popular websites like Facebook, Wikipedia, Yahoo, and eCommerce, such as Nike.

So, the real question is, why do developers still use PHP for web development? Why is it relevant despite being firstly released decades ago? Likewise, this article will tackle some of the best reasons as to why PHP is still one of the top choices of programming language for web development

What is PHP?

PHP, also known as Hypertext Preprocessor, is a server-side programming language used in web development. It was first created in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf and later released in early 1995.

This programming language is primarily used in dynamic and interactive web content, eCommerce websites, session tracking, and databases. It was among the first server-side languages in the development community to be embedded into HTML. Thus, making it easier to integrate more web pages without loading external files data when accessed.

Likewise, PHP is integrated with several popular databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, and Microsoft SQL Server.

Why is PHP still widely used?

It is undeniable that PHP is not the desirable programming language today, especially with the rise of the latest languages such as python or ruby. However, contrary to everyone’s belief, PHP is not dead. In fact, it is still one of the most used programming languages worldwide. Developers worldwide appreciate its significant benefits that other programming languages do not have. Below are the top 8 features of using PHP for web development.

1. It’s Free and open source

PHP is open source. Compared to other scripting languages, PHP does not require any paid hosting and licenses to use. There is no restriction. More than that, most CSM where you can use PHP does not require premium plans.

So, developers can use PHP for free web development and its documentation!

2. Work well with a lot of CMS

Developing a website is always an ongoing process. You just don’t make and launch it as it is. There will always be a need for managing, updating, and editing if you want your business to get ahead of the competition. And this means that developers will not be working alone in web development.

Experts such as SEO, PPC, and content manager sooner or later will have to update the website on their own. However, not everyone has the specialized technical skills or knowledge to handle a code. Likewise, using CMS is vital in web development.

Luckily, PHP works well with various content management systems such as WordPress. This programing language is compatible with the topmost CMS in the world wide web, including Magento, Drupal, Shopify, Joomla, and more CMS powered by a PHP-based framework. And since PHP works well with CMS, you can even use PHP for web development and create a well-customized website that is not available in CMS.

3. Compatible with several OS and platform

When building a website or web app, developers need to ensure that it can cater to different types of customers and their devices. It is essential to ensure that your website is compatible with various browsers, OS, devices, and platforms.

Likewise, you should choose PHP for web development because of its compatibility with different operating systems, including Windows, Linux, macOS, and more. In addition, the programming language’s interface is perfect with MySQL and Apache servers. Thus, it covers all major operating systems existing in various platforms.

Likewise, PHP is also great for creating cross-platform web applications. You can make web apps that can be used on both desktop and mobile, making web development convenient and hassle-free.

4. Highly scalable

Businesses need changes – either to your expanding company or new ventures. A successful website or application should seamlessly and efficiently accommodate this changing need. As such, scalability should always be in a developer’s mind. They need to create a scalable and flexible website that can handle an increase or decrease in a program without disrupting the end-users.

PHP has been used by developers to create flexible web applications for over two decades. It is highly scalable, and it is easy to build dynamic web pages. No matter your point in the software development life cycle, you can modify your code anytime with PHP. Programmers do not need to rewrite the code or command function again.  

Moreover, the scripting language can handle high traffic loads and handle multiple requests simultaneously.

5. Effortless and flexible database connection

Together with technology, data has become a necessity in our lives. It runs our world, decision, and market. The world is slowly turning into data-driven society. As such, databases are becoming more part of web development.

These days, the database is the most crucial part of any website because it stores all the information about your business, its products, and customer information. It is where you house most of the confidential data such as an address, trade secrets, and more. Thus, when developing a website, you need to ensure that you use a compatible programming language and integrate with databases.

Luckily, PHP for web development makes it easier to connect your website to almost any kind of database. This gives the developers more freedom to choose which database they can use based on what suits best for the application.

6. Fast and can be secured

A website reflects the company, and an unprotected webpage can be a liability. The importance of security in any website cannot be emphasized enough. The company’s data and information are at risk, leading to financial losses and customer dissatisfaction. Other security risks are not so well-known but just as essential to protect against. These include social engineering scams, denial-of-service attacks, and data leaks.

Though many believe that open-source languages are vulnerable to attack, PHP has different built-in security features that protect the website from threats. In addition, the programming language has significant community support for the creation of Web Development Tools, frameworks, and best practices that help fix vulnerabilities and increase protection.  

7. Tried and tested throughout the years

One significant benefit of using PHP for web development is that the programming language has been around for decades. It has been tried and tested for various real-life developments. Most bugs have already been found and fixed, making the language reliable and trusted by many developers. In addition, its frameworks and tools have been made over time, giving developers more secure and adequate resources.

There are also tons of tutorials, FAQs, tips, and guidelines for new PHP developers that the PHP community made.

8. Plenty of resources

As mentioned earlier, PHP made a loyal community of developers that created resources, tools, and some best PHP Frameworks for everyone to use over the years. Likewise, another advantage of using PHP for web development is that it offers many resources and tools to the developers. It is handy for new and veteran PHP developers who want to add specific functionalities to their websites but do not know where to start.

In addition, these resources include new ways to build a solution in web development. Many PHP forums and websites offer an ocean of resources covering almost all kinds of topics related to PHP. You don’t need to worry about facing an issue and not finding a solution with PHP.

PHP is here to stay

Given the above mentions potential and benefits of PHP, it is reasonable to assume that PHP is efficient and capable of handling big and extensive projects while being inexpensive and easy to use. More than that, PHP has a simple syntax and is highly scalable, perfect for big organization and commercial use.  

And while many believe that the language is irrelevant and old, this article shows that it is still helpful and continuously evolving through the years. Its simplicity and precision will flourish the language, and more developers will use PHP to construct their websites. Developers can still learn PHP for web development. It will stay for years.

Otherwise, if you are an organization looking for skilled developers to create your website using PHP and its framework, we can help you. Flexisource IT offers various services on IT, web development, mobile app creation, and digital marketing. Tell us about your project today!