PHP

What does PHP mean?

PHP is a general-purpose programming language particularly suited for web development. It was initially created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994. Currently, the reference implementation of PHP is produced by The PHP Group. PHP originally stood for "Personal Home Page," but it now stands for the recursive initialism "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor."

PHP code is typically processed on a web server by a PHP interpreter implemented as a module, a daemon, or as a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) executable. On a web server, the result of the interpreted and executed PHP code—which can be any type of data, such as generated HTML or binary image data—would constitute all or part of an HTTP response.

Various template systems, content management systems, and frameworks can be used to organize or facilitate the generation of that response. Additionally, PHP can be used for many programming tasks outside the web context, such as standalone graphical applications and drone control. PHP code can also be interpreted and executed via a Command-Line Interface (CLI).

History of PHP

Initially, PHP was a simple interpreter for form processing, created by Rasmus Lerdorf under the name PHP/FI. It consisted of a set of CGI scripts written in C, which in 1995 was presented to the world under the name "Personal Home Page," a version that earned the acronym PHP for this language. That same year, Rasmus released the source code of his form interpreter for other developers to use.

The PHP community grew rapidly, as its tools made it easy to perform common processes in a straightforward manner. After several years of minor improvements, the first version of PHP that truly resembles the language today was released as PHP 3. This was the first community-developed version of PHP, involving developers from around the world and compatible with all popular operating systems. The advantage of PHP 3 over other backend programming languages was its ease of use and the comprehensive set of built-in functionalities, allowing work with a wide range of databases, file systems, dynamic image generation, and much more. From this version, PHP changed its name to the one it is known by today: "Hypertext Preprocessor."

How does it work?

PHP is a programming language intended for developing web applications and creating web pages, facilitating the connection between servers and user interfaces.

Among the factors that made PHP so popular is the fact that it is open source.

This means anyone can make changes to its structure. In practice, this represents two important things:

• Open source: There are no usage restrictions related to rights. Users can use PHP to program any project and market it without issues.
• Constant improvement: Thanks to a proactive and committed developer community.

What is it used for?

PHP is generally defined as a server-side language. This means it is applied in the programming that occurs on the web server responsible for running the application or, more often, on a website.

This preliminary work allows the elements of a page to load before displaying them to the user accessing a website. For example, the PHP code is executed on the server, which, upon reading the commands, can activate all the functional elements and visual interface of the website.

The simplicity of learning to use it and the development of open-source software make it easier for professionals who choose to structure websites using the platform, as configurations and edits simplify even further over time.

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In summary, three main functions particularly distinguish PHP:

• Server-side programming: This requires three components: a PHP parser, a web browser, and a web server. The latter is connected to a PHP installation. The web browser is used to access the PHP program. The browser displays web pages stored on the server that are generated with PHP. Server-side programming is ideal for testing websites before their public release.
• Programming via command line: PHP scripts can be created without a browser or server. In this case, you only need a PHP parser. These scripts are suitable for routine tasks carried out on a website.
• Writing desktop applications: This function is not used as frequently as web page programming. However, PHP is suitable for developing desktop applications due to its complexity, which can also be used across multiple platforms.

How is PHP applied in e-commerce?

E-commerce platforms have a significant need for frequent communication with complex databases filled with important elements.

After all, there are many images, videos, and other media related to the products being sold. Therefore, every time you need to load pages, you must connect to these databases, which can make them heavy.

In this context, PHP becomes a great alternative to avoid the possibility of having a store that does not provide a satisfactory browsing experience for users. For this reason, major online store development platforms already use PHP as the primary language for programming their back-end.

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Other Applications of PHP

1. Applications on Websites

One of the main characteristics of PHP is that it is a much more dynamic language than most other options available.

Therefore, it is essential for developing sites that have more complex applications, and for that, we need two things: agility in response time and connection to a large database.

In practice, the idea of using this language is to reduce page loading time, allowing the server to work more smoothly to load plugins and applications on websites.

In this way, it is possible to develop high-performance sites quickly, even if they are full of resources, and with the guarantee of sustainable long-term performance using PHP.

2. WordPress Plugins

WordPress is another major platform that bases all its application programming on the PHP language. This helps us understand why WordPress is the primary choice for website development.

One of the great foundations of WordPress, plugins help various projects keep their websites more complete and with specific features that can be easily managed.

Just like the language of websites, plugins must also have dynamic and agile communication with the server, which is why PHP is the ideal choice in this case.