PHP powers some of the most successful websites on the internet today. Developers use this server-side scripting language to create dynamic and scalable websites that handle millions of users and transactions. Examples of companies using PHP include social media giants like Facebook and Wikipedia, as well as e-commerce sites such as Etsy and Shopify. PHP is a versatile and powerful tool that has proven its worth in the creation of highly successful websites.
In the past, PHP was widely adopted by developers due to its ease of use, flexibility, and speed. It became a go-to choice for building websites of all kinds. Looking to the future, PHP will continue playing a vital role in web development and many companies will continue to outsource to providers offering PHP development services. With constant updates and improvements, it will remain a powerful and relevant tool for developers to create complex web applications and sites that meet the needs of users across the globe.
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What Is the PHP Programming Language?
PHP is a popular server-side scripting language used for web development. It was first created in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf as a simple set of common gateway interface (CGI) scripts to track visitors to his website. Since then, it has evolved into a versatile programming language that is widely used for building dynamic and interactive websites.
PHP is an open-source language, meaning that developers have the ability to use, modify, and distribute the language freely. Its syntax is similar to C and Perl, making it relatively easy to learn for developers with experience in those languages. PHP is also known for its ease of integration with databases, making it an ideal choice for developing data-driven web applications.
One of the key strengths of PHP is its ability to handle server-side scripting. This allows developers to create dynamic web pages that can change in response to user input. Additionally, PHP can be used to build a wide range of web applications, from simple blogs and content management systems to large e-commerce sites and social media platforms. Its versatility, ease of use, and strong community support have made it one of the most popular programming languages for web development.
What Are the Advantages of Web Development With PHP?
Developing web applications using PHP has several advantages, such as:
- Open source: PHP is a free, open-source language, meaning that it’s free to use and distribute. Developers also have the ability to modify the code according to their needs.
- Large community: PHP has a large and active community of developers who contribute to its development, provide support, and share resources.
- Easy to learn: PHP has a simple and intuitive syntax that is easy to learn, even for beginners. It also has a vast library of documentation and resources available online.
- Platform-independent: PHP is a platform-independent language, which means that it can run on various operating systems and servers, including Linux, Unix, Windows, and macOS.
- Scalable: PHP is a scalable language, making it ideal for developing small and large web applications.
- Integration with databases: PHP can integrate seamlessly with various databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle, allowing developers to create data-driven web applications with ease.
- Rapid development: PHP offers a wide range of built-in functions and frameworks that enable developers to build web applications quickly and efficiently.
This language remains in demand and highly used, so many companies choose to outsource custom PHP development services instead of hiring in-house to keep up with demand.
The History of PHP
As previously stated, Rasmus Lerdorf created PHP in 1994 by. Lerdorf later named the scripts Personal Home Page Tools (PHP Tools). These scripts allowed web developers to create dynamic webpages by generating HTML content on the fly, using server-side scripting.
Two years later, in 1996, Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski rewrote the original PHP parser and created the basis for PHP 3, which was the first widely used version of the language. With this release, PHP began to gain popularity among web developers due to its ease of use and integration with databases.
PHP 4, which came out in 2000, offered a significant performance boost over its predecessor, making it even more popular. By the mid-2000s, PHP had become one of the most widely used programming languages for web development with numerous open-source projects, including popular content management systems such as WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla.
In 2014, PHP 5.6 was released, introducing significant improvements and new features, including better security, better performance, and support for Unicode. PHP 7, released in 2015, brought even more significant improvements in terms of performance, speed, and memory usage. These improvements have helped make PHP even more attractive to web developers.
Today, PHP remains one of the most widely used programming languages for web development, with an active and vibrant community of developers contributing to its development and maintenance. With the release of PHP 8 in 2020, the language continues to evolve and improve, offering even more features and improvements that make it an excellent choice for web development projects of all sizes and scopes.
PHP Websites That Clean Up
PHP played a pivotal role in the launches of many of the most successful websites on the internet. Its flexibility, ease of use, and ability to integrate with other technologies make it a top choice for web developers around the world. Before beginning a PHP project, companies should take a look at the most popular PHP-based websites, what makes them so popular, and how the language works.
Facebook (Meta)
Facebook is the largest social media web application, with over 3 billion active users worldwide. The company has been utilizing PHP’s dynamic content-generating capability since its founding in 2004. Facebook’s entire core application code was initially written in PHP by Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz, making it a popular choice for many present-day tech companies.
In 2010, Facebook introduced HipHop for PHP (HPHPc), a transpiler that converts PHP code to C++ and then compiles it into binary for execution. However, in 2013, HipHop for PHP was replaced by the HipHop Virtual Machine (HHVM), which significantly improved performance and made development and deployment processes easier. Since then, HHVM has become the standard for developing and deploying PHP-based applications. As a result, Facebook’s extensive use of PHP greatly contributed to its popularity and increased its adoption in the industry.
WordPress
WordPress, one of the most widely used content management systems (CMS) on the internet, features PHP as its primary programming language. PHP’s flexibility and ability to handle dynamic content made it the perfect language for a CMS like WordPress. The development of WordPress began in 2003 when co-founders Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little decided to create a fork of the popular blogging software b2/cafelog.
WordPress has continued to evolve over the years, with each new release improving on the previous one. The platform’s plugin architecture has made it incredibly popular with users, allowing them to add new features and functionality to their websites with just a few clicks. The ease of use and versatility of WordPress has also made it popular with developers. WordPress themes and plugins are easy to create using PHP, allowing developers to customize the platform to meet their clients’ specific needs.
WordPress has also embraced newer technologies like JavaScript and React, making it even more powerful and flexible. However, PHP remains the backbone of WordPress, powering its core functionality and providing the foundation for its continued success.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia and one of the largest and most popular websites globally. The website utilizes PHP programming language and uses MySQL/MariaDB as its database backend. PHP’s fast execution and its ability to handle a large amount of data make it the perfect programming language for a website like Wikipedia, which relies on extensive data and complex queries.
In 2014, Wikipedia made a significant change by switching to HHVM, a virtual machine for PHP developed by Facebook. This switch led to a significant improvement in the website’s performance. The website’s pages began loading nearly twice as fast after the switch to HHVM, allowing for a better user experience for their readers.
Slack
Since its founding in 2009, Slack has gained over 3 million daily active users with a valuation of approximately $4 billion. To maximize workflow efficiency and speed up web request time while minimizing program defects, Slack employs PHP in its backend. This has enabled them to build a system that can handle a high volume of messages without compromising performance.
Slack uses a PHP framework called Laravel to enable easy development and scalability of its software. Laravel is a free and open-source PHP web framework that is popular for its expressive syntax, ease of use, and powerful tools. The use of PHP has also allowed Slack to seamlessly integrate with other web services, enabling users to quickly and easily link their accounts and share information.
As a result, Slack has become a popular tool for businesses of all sizes looking to streamline their communication processes and improve collaboration among team members.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp, a well-known email marketing platform, is built on PHP programming language. Developers used PHP for all aspects of Mailchimp’s application, including the production environment. Mailchimp’s backend leverages scalable PHP databases to handle millions of emails sent daily to over 13 million registered users. The use of PHP has allowed Mailchimp to increase its efficiency in processing email campaigns and reduce the number of program defects.
Moreover, PHP’s dynamic features, flexibility, and ease of use make it an ideal choice for Mailchimp’s development process. Additionally, Mailchimp’s PHP-based backend enables the platform to handle large amounts of data while providing efficient access to data storage.
Overall, the use of PHP has enabled Mailchimp to develop a reliable and high-performing email marketing platform that has become an essential tool for businesses of all sizes. With its focus on simplicity and scalability, PHP has enabled Mailchimp to evolve with the changing needs of its clients while maintaining its position as a leader in the email marketing industry.
Etsy
Etsy, the popular online marketplace for handmade goods and vintage items, relies on PHP for its web development. The company uses PHP to power its dynamic user interface, enabling the site to display unique content for each visitor based on their search queries and preferences.
Etsy’s platform also utilizes MySQL as its primary database management system, which allows the company to store and organize a vast amount of product listings and user data. By using PHP and MySQL, Etsy is able to scale its infrastructure to handle the significant growth it has experienced since its founding in 2005.
In addition to using PHP for its website development, Etsy has also contributed to the PHP community by sharing its open-source code libraries and developing tools that other developers can use to build scalable and efficient web applications. The use of PHP has been crucial in enabling Etsy to create a successful and user-friendly online marketplace that connects millions of buyers and sellers around the world.
Tumblr
With over 500 million blogs, Tumblr is a hub of internet culture and memes. In 2016, the platform migrated to PHP 7, resulting in significant performance improvements and the ability to implement new language features like scalar type hints and return type declarations.
Conclusion
The versatility of PHP as a dynamic scripting language has enabled businesses to save significant time, maximizing long-term return on investment. As PHP 7 gains popularity and more tech and retail companies choose it as their server-side language, it’s clear that it should always remain in serious consideration by software development teams and businesses alike. These top 7 companies may have used PHP in different ways, but they all made sure that they had the best talent working on it to ensure its success.
Companies looking to get started with their own development project should seriously consider PHP outsourcing to a reputable provider, such as BairesDev, for all their PHP development needs.
If you enjoyed this, be sure to check out our other PHP articles.
