PHP is a programming language. The PHP name comes from English and is a recursive acronym: PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. Used initially to produce dynamic web pages, it is widely used in the development of web pages and web applications. It is mainly embedded in HTML, but starting with version 4.3.0, it can also be used in the “command line” (CLI) mode, allowing for the creation of independent applications.
It is one of the most important open source and server-side programming languages, with versions available for most web servers and all operating systems. According to the statistics, it is installed on 20 million websites and 1 million web servers. It is available under the PHP License and the Free Software Foundation considers it to be free software. Initially, the language was developed by his inventor, Rasmus Lerdorf. With the increase in the number of users, the development was taken over by a new entity, called The PHP Group.
PHP is a language created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994 to customize its web page. Subsequently, he created partnerships with other programmers that helped to improve the language and could be taught by anyone without programming knowledge. With PHP, you can create dynamic pages with content that can be updated from day to day or even from minute to minute. Unlike other webpages, PHP is not interpreted by the user’s browser, but by a server. Installing PHP and MySQL is more complex, requiring certain settings made after they are installed. You can still use the WAMP program that contains PHP, MySQL, PHPMyAdmin already installed and configured.
PHP originally meant Personal Home Page. PHP was started in 1994 as an extension of the Perl server-side language, and then as a series of CGIs compiled by Rasmus Lerdorf to generate a curriculum vitae and track the number of visitors to a site. It then evolved into PHP/FI 2.0, but the open-source project began to grow after Zion Suraski and Andi Gutmans of Technion released a new version of the PHP interpreter in the summer of 1998, this version being called PHP 3.0 . They also changed the name into the recursive acronym now, until then PHP being known as Personal Home Page Tools. Then Suraski and Gutmans rewrote the language base, thus producing Zend Engine in 1999. In May 2000 PHP 4.0 was released, based on Zend Engine 1.0.
The popularity of this programming language is due to the following features:
– Familiarity: The syntax of language is very easy to learn by combining the syntax of some of the most popular Perl or C languages;
– Simplicity: The syntax of language is quite free. There is no need for libraries or compilation directives to be included, the PHP code included in a document being executed between the special bookmarks;
– Efficiency: PHP uses resource allocation mechanisms, very necessary for a multiuser environment, such as the web;
– Security: PHP provides the programmer with a flexible and effective set of security measures;
– Flexibility: As it emerges from the need to develop the web, PHP has been modularized to keep pace with the development of various technologies. Not linked to a particular web server, PHP has been integrated for the many existing web servers: Apache, IIS, Zeus, server, etc .;
– Free: is probably the most important feature of PHP. The development of PHP under the open-source license has prompted rapid adaptation of PHP to web needs, streamlining, and securing the code.