PHP stands for a recursive acronym 'PHP Hypertext PreProcessor'. Created in 1995 by Rasmus Lerdorf, it soon caught up with mainstream scripting languages. While initially it was written to build Dynamic Webpages, it is now used in 75% of web servers for server side programming.
With leading web content management systems using PHP - including Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, PHP has become one of the most popular and reliable languages to build web applications. There are several reasons for this, some of the more important one's are as follows:
* PHP is an open source language, there is a huge pool of PHP programmers who work on improving it, and has a wide support base for new and old developers alike. It is also much cheaper to code in PHP.
* Like C++, SmallTalk, it is object oriented with several libraries for various functions.
* You can build large applications with much less code compared to other languages. PHP is also simpler and easier to learn.
* It is not browser specific, thus developers need not work around any hardcoded browser specific coding. Same with different platforms and Operating Systems (OS). Code written in PHP can be very easily ported from one platform or OS to the other.
* PHP has built-in Zend scripting engine that enables it to run scripts faster in comparison to other languages.
* It is designed to build dynamic web applications.
* Easy integration to back end Database like MySQL, PostgreSQL etc.
* Easy embedding of HTML code in PHP pages, to make them more user friendly, with better formatting.
Apart from full-fledged applications written in PHP, there are also hugely popular websites like Facebook, Wikipedia, and Digg that use PHP for coding the user interface.
Ultimately, the decision to build web applications in PHP is more or less driven by the cost incurred and the ease of development and maintenance.
It is always safer to look at other choices and issues involved to make an informed decision, especially if something goes awry after the PHP web development process, and you are answerable to the management about choosing PHP.
For example, if security is very important to you, there are well known holes in PHP. If a user passes unexpected content to a PHP script intentionally or unintentionally, it can cause havoc to your system. Thus, user input validation is very important in the development stage. As long as you ensure your developers are aware of loopholes and workarounds using PHP, you can be sure of a smooth sailing.
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