PHP is an acronym for Hypertext Preprocessor, a server-side programming language. PHP is used by developers to develop web pages/sites/applications with dynamic content by interacting with databases. The first version of PHP was released by Rasmus Lerdorf back in the year 1996.
PHP is used to develop web-based applications
It is very widely used
It is an open source scripting language and free
Most Common Functional Areas of PHP
Interact with database and perform create, update and delete (CRUD) operations.
Create, open, write, read, delete files on the server’s file system
Collect and retrieve form data
Authenticate and authorize the user-access
Create cookies and access them
PHP is not limited only to the above-mentioned functions. You can encrypt the data, play video, or output any text, PDF or images.
Benefits of PHP
PHP is totally free to use even for commercial purposes
PHP is being used by developers for close to two decades and it’s proven and trusted.
Many of world’s most popular applications such as WordPress, PHPMyAdmin are built on PHP
PHP is platform independent and runs on all popular platforms like Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.
PHP scripts can be integrated with all major databases like MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Sybase, etc.
It is compatible with all well-known servers like Apache, IIS, etc.
It supports all major protocols like IMAP, POP3, LDAP, SSL, etc.
It is easy to learn and program
PHP has a huge following and large support by community of developers
Prerequisites
Prior knowledge of HTML, JavaScript, Database and basic understanding of programming language will be very helpful.
Welcome to the world of PHP
<?php
echo "My first program.... Welcome to the world of PHP.";
?>