What Is PHP?

What is PHP? PHP is one of the most popular programming languages in the world, designed for creating dynamic and interactive web applications. Whether you're building a personal portfolio website or a high-performance e-commerce platform, PHP offers the tools and flexibility to bring your ideas to life. Its versatility, ease of use, and extensive community support make it a go-to solution for developers of all skill levels. 

In this blog post, I answer the question, “What is PHP?” I explore why it’s a valuable language to learn and how it continues to power countless websites and applications across the internet.

What Is PHP and Other Frequently Asked Questions

What Is PHP and Why Is It Used?

PHP is a highly flexible, open source language for writing web-based applications. It is used due to its flexibility, versatility, and easy learning curve.

PHP applications include websites and services that can run on virtually any platform, including Linux, Microsoft Windows, and even proprietary platforms such as IBM i. Developers can use the language to write in both procedural and object-oriented styles.

How Is PHP Used?

PHP is used for developing websites and web applications.

However, there are many uses of PHP. Developers also use PHP to build backend APIs to systems to enable communication — including data sharing — with frontend web applications, mobile apps, and IoT devices including wearables.

Learn more about how PHP is used in modern web applications >>

What Does PHP Stand For?

PHP stands for PHP Hypertext Pre-processor. 

But that wasn't always true, with the PHP acronym originally standing for Personal Home Page Tools. That’s because the language’s creator, Rasmus Lerdorf, first developed it to track visits to his online resume. 

What Is PHP Development?

PHP development is writing server-side scripts that will display information in browsers in a variety of formats including HTML, JSON, XML, or even PDF.

Developing and running web apps with this language requires modular solutions to keep up with increasingly complex modern demands. This requirement is easy to meet by using ZendPHP runtimes and ZendHQ observability tooling. 

Is PHP Hard to Learn?

PHP is not hard to learn.

It's a fairly easy programming language to learn and master. Of course, it's easier to learn PHP when you have some help from proven experts. 

For instance, Zend PHP training courses offer options for new PHP developers through advanced users. We teach a variety of free, on-demand, and instructor-led PHP courses designed to meet your team’s needs and level up your skills.

A Brief History of PHP

PHP was first developed in 1995 as an open source project. It continued to evolve over the next few years, thanks to ongoing community contributions.

In 1997, Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski spearheaded the creation of a new (forked) version of the open source language, which they called PHP Hypertext Processor, or PHP 3.0. In less than a year, the PHP 3.0 was installed on 70,000 global domains. Because it was so widely adopted, by 1998, PHP 3.0 became the official successor of PHP Tools, which some now call PHP/FI (Personal Home Page tools/Forms Interpreter).

To further streamline PHP development, Gutmans and Zeev developed an open source runtime for PHP, which they called Zend Engine. Over the next few years, Gutmans and Zeev founded Zend Technologies, a commercial entity offering PHP-related products and services. Zend Technologies launched Zend Core and the Zend platform, which later became Zend Server. (Zend Technologies also created an open source development framework called Zend Framework, which is now Laminas.)

As of 2025, PHP powers 75% of web apps. It continues to be a top choice for projects of all sizes, from building a single application to large enterprise-grade systems. PHP is used across industries – from Software as a Service to Finance, Technology to Government and Public Services – around the world.

2025 PHP Usage, Trends, and Statistics

The PHP ecosystem changes fast, and staying current with trends and innovations poses a constant challenge for PHP teams. Stay up to date by downloading your free copy of the 2025 PHP Landscape Report.

Unlock PHP Insights and Data

Why PHP Is a Top Choice for Developing Web Applications

Choosing a server-side scripting language such as PHP can help ensure more consistent performance for end users, compared with pure client-side apps, because servers typically deliver more performance than clients’ devices. However, potential latency introduced by network connections is important to consider when choosing between client-side and server-side app architectures.

There are many reasons why PHP is so popular as a development language, but the three major ones for me are that it's flexible, easy to learn, and has numerous long-term support options.

1. PHP Is Flexible 

You can develop PHP applications for diverse use cases and design requirements. The language can interoperate with databases via a multitude of extensions covering all major databases, as well as the Open Database Connection (ODBC) standard. And with it, you can consume information from other data sources using popular protocols such as LDAP, IMAP, SNMP, and COM.  

Because the language is free and open source, anyone can use it on-demand. PHP also provides 75 plugins for products such as Drupal, Magento, Joomla, and MariaDB. These ready-to-use, thoroughly tested connectors can dramatically speed time to market of new apps and services by minimizing coding and testing requirements. 

Top PHP tooling, such as the ZendHQ extension for ZendPHP runtimes, also provides functionalities that you can use to further boost response times for users, such as real-time insight into performance bottlenecks, automate jobs, and other optimizations.  

2. PHP Is Easy to Learn 

As far as programming languages, PHP is considered relatively easy to learn especially for C and Perl developers because they are so similar in structure. It’s also easy to use the language to write applications that deliver fast user response times. 

3. PHP Has Long-Term Support Options

The ongoing popularity of the language has resulted in a thriving open source community. As a result, anyone can take advantage of its ready-to-use packages and plugins. Plus, you can get support for your PHP applications. The community provides free support for PHP releases for four years after they are released. 

For developers that opt for ZendPHP secure and supported runtimes, however, an additional two years of long term support is available for mission-critical applications.

A PHP Example

The following PHP code snippet illustrates the language’s simplicity:

<?php

class Greeter
{
    /**
     * @var string
     */
    private $greeting;

    /**
     * Greeter constructor.
     * @param string $greeting
     */
    public function __construct($greeting = 'Hello')
    {
        $this->greeting = $greeting;
    }

    /**
     * @param $name
     * @return string
     */
    public function greet($name) : string
    {
        return "{$this->greeting} $name!";
    }
}

$greeter = new Greeter('Hi there');
echo $greeter->greet('Zend'); //Will output: Hi there Zend!

Final Thoughts

So – what is PHP? PHP is a vital and versatile tool for web development, powering web applications for industries around the world. Its ease of use, flexibility, and strong community support make it an excellent choice for both beginners and seasoned developers. 

From simple websites to complex, enterprise-grade systems, PHP has consistently proven its value in creating robust, scalable solutions. By leveraging its extensive libraries and long-term support options, developers can ensure efficient, future-proof applications. Whether you're just starting your programming journey or looking to enhance your skills, PHP provides the resources, community, and capability to make ideas come to life.

ZendPHP + ZendHQ Makes Mission-Critical PHP Possible

ZendPHP runtimes, when paired with ZendHQ observability and orchestration tooling, deliver the building blocks for secure and scalable web applications. Try them free for 21 days to see how they fit in your infrastructure.

Free Trial Details Learn More About ZendPHP

Additional Resources

• Resource Collection - Exploring PHP Versions
• Blog - Why You Should Use Asynchronous PHP
• Blog - PHP Best Practices: Your Questions Answered
• Free Training Course: Installing PHP
• Free Training Course: PHP Basics
• Free Training Course: Interactive Web Forms

This blog was originally published on November 18, 2019 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.