In the present era, one of the most frequently used scripting languages is PHP. The language was first created by Rasmus Lerdorf, a Danish-Canadian programmer. Initially, the full form of PHP was Personal Homer Page but after some time it was renamed as PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. It is an open-source general-use scripting language. This particular language can be embedded into HTML and is preferred by a large number of people for web development. There are special processing instructions that are used at the beginning and at the end of the PHP code.

How Does PHP Work?

One of the merits of PHP is that this language is easily understandable and very simple to use. The code is executed on the server itself. The HTML which is generated is then sent to the client. These characteristics actually distinguish PHP from client-side JavaScript. In PHP language, the code doesn’t run behind the script. Instead, the client can see the output of the running script. There are various ways through which the HTML files can be executed along with the PHP files. It is extremely easy to enhance the performance and privacy of the code. The client only needs to configure his server in a manner that files from both categories can be executed together. There are many advanced features that can be used by the experts while using PHP. Users usually find a suitable PHP development company and use their porting and maintenance services.

What can PHP be Used for?

Other than CGI programs, PHP is perfectly capable of doing all the tasks that involve server-side scripting. A person can generate pages with dynamic content, receive and send cookies etc. The main field of PHP is server-side scripting, and it requires three things involving web server, web browser and a server module. Along with the installation of PHP, a person needs to run a web server. The use of the web browser comes into play when a person wants to view the page content. Also, to view the output produced by the PHP code, a web browser will be used. Such experiments can be done easily on basic computers if the audience size is small. One of the other benefits of PHP is Command line scripting. There are various ways of running a script without the use of a web browser or a web server. Using a simple server module is enough to do the task.

Practicing command-line scripting using a server module is considered as an ideal way of using scripts on Linux/Windows. Tasks that are less complex can easily be carried out by command-line scripting, e.g., text processing. The third benefit of PHP is writing desktop applications. Creation of a desktop using PHP is usually carried out by people who are well versed in PHP. Creating a full desktop application along with a good user interface is a tough task. A person performing such a task using the PHP language must be well-versed with the advanced features of the language. Usage of PHP-GTK on the client-side applications is generally preferred when writing desktop applications. The PHP-GTK is not available as a part of the main distribution of the PHP language. However, it can be referred to as an extension to this scripting language.

Benefits of PHP

There are many benefits of using PHP. This also includes the vast variety of databases that are supported by this language. Using database extensions such as MySQL, any user can easily write a database-enabled page. Some people might even use PDO. Along with the ability to display HTML, PHP is perfectly capable of showcasing PDFs and images as well. There are various open-source platforms present which support custom application development. Developers can enjoy developing PHP rapid applications by choosing a PHP development company that fulfills their requirements. A user is free to use any operating system while using PHP. It is possible to use OOPS and procedural programming at the same time. There are various protocols such as LDMAP which allows the PHP applications to interact with other applications.

Overall, PHP is certainly a great option for someone who wants to do web development.

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