Introduction to PHP Scripting language
Through this article, we will read about what is php scripting language as well as its history, features, applications and why should we learn php?
So Let's dive in!
What is PHP scripting language?
Most of the people don't know about PHP language. So let's start with some basics and know what is PHP scripting language. PHP: Hypertext preprocessor is the full form of PHP. It is a recursive acronym. PHP is the multi purpose side server scripting language which is widely used for static and dynamic web development and web applications. It is an open source scripting language which can be embedded into HTML.
PHP is a simple, secure and platform independent scripting language. Compilers are not required in PHP scripting language because it is an interpreted language. PHP scripting language is easy to learn, easy to read and easy to understand scripting language. PHP is a fast scripting language in comparison to other scripting languages such as JSP and ASP, etc.
History of PHP scripting language
You all must be wondering about who has developed PHP scripting language and when has it been developed? So let's discuss about some interesting facts related to the history of PHP scripting language.
PHP is the simple scripting language which was developed by Rasmus Lerdorf in the year 1994. PHP scripting language was initially introduced in the market in 1995. Rasmus Lerdorf is known as the father or founder of PHP scripting language. Earlier the full form of PHP is "Personal Home Page" but later it was changed to recursive acronym that is "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor". The latest version of PHP scripting language is PHP 7.4.0.
Features of PHP scripting language
PHP is a simple and secure scripting language. There are various features of PHP scripting language which makes it the widely used scripting language. So let's discuss the main features of PHP scripting language which are as follows
1. Simple and easy to use
PHP is a simple and easy to use general purpose scripting language. The syntax of PHP language is very simple as they are similar to the syntax of C programming language. Beginner programmers can also understand and learn PHP scripting language very easily. And due to its simplicity it is the most used scripting language at current time in comparison of other scripting languages.
2. Loosely typed language
PHP is considered as a loosely typed language because it allows the programmer to use a particular variable without declaring its data type. And at the time of execution, it will automatically taken based on value of data type it contains. And dynamically name of variables can also be changed.
3. Security
PHP is a secure scripting language which can be used by programmers to develop different web applications and programs. PHP is considered as more secure language in comparison to other scripting languages. It provides a feature of multiple layer security in order to avoid threads and malevolent attacks.
4. Fast and efficient language
The program written in PHP scripting language takes less time in execution in comparison to programs written in other scripting language such as JSP, ASP and Perl etc. PHP language makes the loading of required data faster and it connects to the database in very less time. And along with this it also provide the feature of removing unwanted memory allocation.
5. Community support
PHP scripting language has a very large, rich and helpful community of developer who provide help for beginner programmers in order to develop web applications. They provide various useful facilities like tutorials, FAQs, documentations and online help, etc. They even provide translation into different languages in order to help beginner programmers in completing their projects or applications.
6. Error reporting
PHP language provides support for error reporting and exception handling. In order to get error warning and other occasional warning at run time, PHP language uses error reporting constants. Some examples are: E_ERROR, E_PARSE, E_STRICT and E_WARNING, etc. Exceptional handling is used to throw errors in PHP.
7. Platform independent language
PHP language is considered as platform independent language which means that it can be operated in different operating systems like UNIX, Linux, Mac and windows, etc. It also provides support to different types of database such as ODBC, MySQL and SQLite, etc.
8. Open source language
PHP is considered as an open source language which means that you do not have to pay for downloading PHP frameworks. Users can download it for free and can use it in their projects and applications. It also provide large range of libraries to access database in order to interact with web server. PHP language is used in many frameworks like Zend framework, CakePHP and Codeigniter, etc.
9. Object oriented features
PHP language also supports the feature of object oriented programming approach which as a result increases the speed. It sports the concept of object oriented programming approach like inheritance abstraction, polymorphism and encapsulation, etc.
10. Some other additional features are as follows
• PHP language be easily embedded with HTML.
• PHP language shows compatibility with approx every web server.
• PHP language provide maximum control over websites.
• User recent access summary is also provided by PHP language.
Application or uses of PHP scripting language
PHP scripting language is a most popular and fastest growing general purpose scripting language. PHP language is used widely by the programmers in developing different types of of applications and programs such as GUI based applications, e-commerce applications, freelancing etc. So let's discuss in detail about the main uses of PHP programming language which are as follows
1. GUI based applications
The GUI full form of is graphical user interface. Programmers can develop different types of GUI based applications with the help of PHP scripting language. By using different types of web technologies like HTML5, and SQLite etc. programmers can easily develop native desktop GUI applications.
2. E commerce applications
Programmers can also develop different types of e commerce applications in simple and swift way with the use of of PHP frameworks like CakePHP and Codeigniter, etc. Example of e-commerce applications which are developed with the help of PHP scripting language are Zen Cart, Presta Shop, and Uber Cart, etc.
3. Web Content Management Systems (CMS)
PHP scripting language is also used by the programmers in in developing web content managing systems (CMS). Frameworks of PHP provides different features like libraries, session management and templates, etc. with which programmers can manage the content of websites.
4. Data representations
PHP scripting language is also used by the programmers in making different means of data representation like graphs, charts, scatter dots and other means. With the help of PHP scripting language one can also create PDF files.
Why should we learn PHP language or advantages of learning PHP language.
Every beginner programmer on so no that why should he learn a particular language or what are the advantages of learning a particular language. So here we will discuss about advantages of learning PHP language. PHP is easy to learn, simple and an open source scripting language which provides following advantages
• PHP language is a faster and simple scripting language in comparison to other scripting languages.
• it provides facility to create session in PHP.
• PHP also provide maximum control over websites.
• it can be easily embedded with HTML.
• PHP supports different types of databases and operating systems.
• you can also download it from free and it is easy to set up.
• it also has a helpful and supportive community.
• PHP is platform independent or cross platform scripting language.
Conclusion
Today we have discussed about some basic concept related to PHP scripting language. Through this article, you have learnt about what is PHP scripting language, what are its features, history, applications and why should we learn PHP scripting language.
PHP is a fastest simple secure and easy to understand scripting language and it provides various advantages to a programmer. PHP is a multi purpose scripting language which can be used in developing different types of applications and programs like e-commerce applications, freelancing, and GUI based applications, etc.
I hope this article will be helpful to you and hopefully you have learnt about basics of PHP scripting language through this article.