What is PHP and How it works? An Overview and Its Use Cases

PHP

Php is scripting language. PHP is among the oldest and most preferred programming languages
PHP can be used for creating client-side applications, like desktop applications.
It is open-source which means it is free to download and use. It is very simple to learn and use. The files have the extension “php”.

PHP stands for Hypertext Preprocessor (no, the acronym doesn’t follow the name). It’s an open source, server-side, scripting language used for the development of web applications. By scripting language, we mean a program that is script-based (lines of code) written for the automation of tasks.

In PHP, server-side scripting is the main area of operation. Server-side scripting with PHP involves:

PHP Parser: a program that converts source and human readable code into a format easier for the computer to understand
Web server: a program that executes files that form web pages from user requests
Web browser: an application used to display content on the World Wide Web
In this instance, with the use of just a PHP parser, the PHP script can be executed without a server program or browser. This use of the PHP script is normally employed for simple text processing tasks, like task schedulers.

History

It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994. when Rasmus Lerdorf wrote several Common Gateway Interface (CGI) programs in C,[16][17] which he used to maintain his personal homepage.

Use case of Php

The scripting language, PHP is among the oldest and most preferred programming languages. Even some of the biggest tech giants such as Facebook, Google, Wikipedia use PHP. Here is the list of 5 incredible things you can perform with PHP.

Cybersecurity of the website
PHP is a great programming language that can help you combine cybersecurity on your website. The advancements of the internet have raised concerns about cybersecurity among tech professionals. Hiring PHP programmers can help you integrate the website with cybersecurity. The integration of cybersecurity and PHP tools can help you prevent ongoing frequent cyber attacks.

Write your own script code
In PHP, you no longer need to be dependent on the third party email features. You can easily send notifications to your clients using PHP. These notifications are important messages about products and services.

integrate cloud into your website
It has helped in making the workflow easy. Despite the multiple advantages, most companies look for cloud technology due to professional advantages. PHP offers a great facility to integrate cloud tech into your website.

Image processing
The programming language enables users to export images in different formats. GD library of PHP allows easy processing and image generation. GD library is basically a function that allows users to take image output in the desired format. You can easily crop, format and manage multiple files.

Here is some Example of PHP Code!

<?php

echo”my first PHP script”;

?>

Features of PHP

PHP programming language is widely used in developing web-based applications in various domains. Here are some huge applications:

  • Content Management System
  • Web-based applications
  • General-purpose website development
  • E-commerce websites and applications
  • Data analytics and representation
  • Image processing
  • Graphical interface design

latest version

PHP 8.1.3

Founder Company/Person of PHP

Rasmus Lerdorf

Official Website 

https://www.php.net/

Advantages of PHP

  • Simple & Easy to Grab
    Despite its wide-ranging features, it stands as a simple and clear programming language.
  • The MVC Pattern
    Model-View-Controller Architectural pattern of the PHP framework helps developers in organizing their codes.
  • Open-source and Free!
    One of the most important advantages of PHP is that is free and open-source software. This becomes an important factor when it comes to programming and developing as a student.
  • Flexible Development
    It is highly flexible and provides an easy connection to a database with its built-in functionalities. It can be used with a large number of relational database management systems such as MySQL, dBase, IBM DB2, ODBC, PostgreSQL, Inter Base, Front Base, SQLite, etc and runs on all web browsers such as Apache, personal web server, Microsoft IIS, Netscape, iPlanet, etc.
  • Faster
    It also has a faster loading time over slow internet speed than most of the other programming languages.

Best Alternative of Php

  • Java.
  • Python.
  • Ruby.
  • C#.
  • Go.
  • Erlang.
  • Elixir.

Components of Php

1.Easy Pagination with PHP and Mootools
This is a PHP Page class that handles the database queries, generating ajax page navigation and even creates the Javascript for you.

2.Laser-focused
A PHP component is laser-focused and exists only to solve a single problem very well.

3.Small
It contains the least amount of PHP code necessary to solve one problem. The amount of code varies. A PHP component can have one PHP class. It can also have several PHP classes organized into subnamespaces. There is no correct number of classes in a PHP component. It uses however many are necessary to solve its one problem.

4.Cooperative
A PHP component plays well with others. After all, this is the point of PHP components—their existence depends on their cooperation with other components to build larger solutions.

5.Well-tested
A PHP component is well-tested. This is easy to accomplish thanks to its small size. If a PHP component is small and laser-focused, it is very likely easily tested.

The PHP script is embedded in . This is the instruction to the web server (usually Apache web server) to execute PHP code. The functionality is performed and result of expressions, echo statement etc., is being executed by the web server and the server in turn returns the result of echo statement, interacts with database etc. Using PHP, thousands web pages can be uploaded, being it is dynamic.

How Php works?

Step 1
The user enters http://laravel.com into their browser and taps/hits ‘enter’.
Step 2
After the user has tapped/hit ‘enter’, the browser sends the page request over the Internet to the web server.
Step 3
The web server gets the request and analyzes the request information. Apache realizes that we didn’t specify a file, so it looks for a directory index and finds index.php.
Step 4
Since Apache knows to send files that end with the.php file extension to the PHP interpreter, it asks PHP to execute the file.
Step 5
In this step, PHP is executing the code contained in the index.php file from the request. During this step, PHP may interact with databases, the file system or make external API calls, amongst other things.
Step 6
After PHP has finished executing the index.php file, it sends the output back to Apache.
Step 7
Apache receives the output from PHP and sends it back over the Internet to a user’s web browser. This is called the web response.
Step 8
The user’s web browser receives the response from the server, and renders the web page on a computer or device.
As you can see, PHP interacts with a web server in a very real way. The actual request process is very simple, and one of the reasons that PHP is so well suited for web application development.

Best Resources, Tutorials and Guide for Php

Interview Questions and Answer for Php

Best Courses and Insitute for learning

If you want certification course for such top course. So please visit “Devopsschool.com”. You will find more certification courses here.

Rajesh Kumar
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Julia Davis
Julia Davis
11 months ago

I have gone through your article which was on information about PHP development. It was informative & usable. I would like to add some points to increase readability of your article, which are as follows:
1.Content Management Systems (CMS)
2.E-commerce
3.Web Applications
4.API Development
Overall, PHP is a versatile and widely-used programming language that is well-suited for web development due to its ease of use, flexibility, and strong community support. Readers, If you want to develop your PHP website, you can get a free consultation from a company like Alakmalak technology. They have an experienced team in this field.

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