PHP – Introduction

This tutorial will teach you about PHP, how it works, what it can do, and its benefits.

PHP is a server-side, general-purpose scripting language that is ideal for web development. Rasmus Lerdorf invented PHP in 1994. The PHP Development Team is currently in charge of its maintenance.

PHP and Server Side Language

When you visit a website, such as https://www.developerpublish.com, through your web browser,

The web browser sends an HTTP request to developerpublish.com, which is located on a web server. The request is received by the web server, which responds with an HTML document.

The web browser is a client in this case, whereas the web server is the server. The client requests a page, which is then fulfilled by the server.

PHP is a script that runs on a web server and processes requests before returning an HTML output.

PHP and General-purpose language

There are two categories of programming languages when it comes to their purpose: domain-specific and general-purpose languages.

Within specialised application domains, domain-specific languages are utilised. SQL, for instance, is a domain-specific language. It is mostly used to query data from relational databases. SQL can’t be used for anything else.

PHP, on the other hand, is a general-purpose language since it can be used to create a wide range of applications.

PHP and cross-platform language

All major operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and macOS, can run PHP.

PHP is compatible with all major web servers, including Nginx, OpenBSD, and Apache. Some cloud systems, such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS, also support PHP.

PHP is a very adaptable language. It’s not simply for dealing with HTML. PHP provides built-in support for PDF, GIF, JPEG, and PNG image generation.

PHP is noteworthy for its database support, which includes MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL, db2, Oracle Database, and MongoDB.

How PHP Works?

• First, the web browser sends an HTTP request, such as index.php, to the web server.
• Second, the PHP preprocessor on the web server converts PHP code into HTML.
• The HTML content is then returned to the web browser by the web server.

Advantages of PHP

PHP has several advantages for web development because it was created for the web in the first place:

• Simple – PHP is a simple language to learn and use.
• PHP websites are known for their speed.
• PHP is stable because it has been around for quite some time.
• Open source and free — PHP is a free and open source programming language. This means you won’t have to pay a licence charge to use PHP to create software.
  PHP has an active online community that can assist you if you have a problem.