7 Reasons Why PHP is the Best Choice for Web Development Project

Having a website presence is the need of modern times. By going digital, you’re tapping into markets that were otherwise impossible to reach.

But getting your voice heard comes with a few conditions. Besides having a business idea, you also need to have the right technology stack at your disposal.

In the tech circles, there seems to be an endless number of options available. From languages to frameworks, and more – it seems that Moore’s law is in constant motion. With all said and done, you need to have a robust programming solution at your disposal. While the languages and frameworks come and go, there is one titan of a programming language that, even with all the criticisms (right and wrong) hurled at it, doesn’t seem to go away.

I’m talking about PHP. With a logo resembling an elephant, the language lives up to its gigantic stature by being the number one choice for website and application developers alike. With 79% of websites running on PHP, most of them being high-end legacy systems, there’s no denying the impact PHP has in building the internet.

Sounds a bit much right? Not really and in this post, I’ll explain why that is the case. So, let’s start.

What is PHP and What Makes it So Popular?

Hypertext preprocessor is the real name of PHP. An open-source server-end language, it’s a language maintained by a group of dedicated developers from all across the world. When combined with markup and stylesheet languages like HTML and CSS, it gives a website its backup functionality.

In layman’s terms, if HTML is the skeleton, and CSS is the body, then PHP is life itself for a website.

There’s a lot you can do with PHP. Creative devs have created wonderful websites using the platform. If I were to generalize its functions, it would be:

• Managing database operations by adding/editing information
• Content creation
• Server-end management
• Collecting and processing data from the form
• Data information and encryption
• Reading and processing HTML/CSS files

Reasons Why PHP is the Best for Web Development Project

It’s An Open-Source Platform 

One of the biggest advantages PHP has is that it’s open-source and easy to use. If you’re low-budget, using this language and its free CMS WordPress, you can create a high-end modern website with ease.

The source code of the language and its CMS is constantly maintained and updated to ensure that it’s free from bugs and security flaws.

Considering my first statement, there’s a question I want to address: should you use WordPress if you have a budget?

Yes indeed. Being robust and popular, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be using PHP for website development. Even if you want a customized website, there are tons of PHP developers who can help create your website according to your vision.

OS Compatible 

One of the biggest problems I have with some languages is their lack of cross-browser compatibility. PHP doesn’t have that problem. It is executable on all Operating Systems from Mac to Windows, Linux, UNIX, and its respective flavors. On top of that, it runs on all servers from Apache to MySQL. It’s an ideal language for cross-browser development and can make web applications run on any system regardless of the OS.

Dynamic And Flexible 

One of the biggest advantages PHP has over other languages is its ability to scale according to user requirements. It’s dynamic and extensible as a language. It doesn’t slow down as your business grows. Instead, it grows along with it.

Let’s take an eCommerce store that’s gaining a lot more traffic. Given that the hosting options are built for scalability, PHP’s codebase won’t break. Instead, all your scaling components will fit right beside PHP.

One Language, Multiple Resources

PHP isn’t a standalone programming language. It comes with its fair share of resources to help you extend your development processes further. On top of that, you also have a variety of frameworks you can use to build your applications in a stable environment. We’ll get to frameworks in the next section, but in a nutshell, they are present to make your workflows efficient, easy to debug, and fast.

On the CMS side of PHP: WordPress, you have thousands of plugins for just about any purpose you can think of. There are solutions present whether you’re a website developer or a CMS user looking to get things running by yourself.

Frameworks

Let’s elaborate on the framework’s discussion. Frameworks on PHP can help you build software more effectively. What might require ten lines of code, for example, can be completed in one. framework’s, Laravel, Symfony, Zend, CodeIgniter, and others. These solutions are efficient and can help you create cleaner code. These frameworks adhere to certain standards which makes them more efficient to use.  

Also Read:

• Django Vs Laravel: An In-Depth Breakdown of Two Powerful Frameworks
• PHP vs JavaScript For Web Development

Database Flexibility 

When it comes to database management, PHP is very flexible. It can work harmoniously with databases like MySQL, mongodB, PostgreSQL, and others. Now, the major database used alongside PHP is MySQL but that doesn’t mean that it cannot integrate with other databases to create apps in different environments.

The WordPress CMS 

As we’ve already discussed the most powerful CMS in the world, PHP is built on PHP so you can pretty much see where it stands at the CMS development level.

Besides WordPress, it also powers open-source CMS platforms like Drupal, Magento, PrestaShop, and Joomla. These platforms, however, are hybrid meaning that some of their components are built with PHP.

Also, check out: Joomla vs WordPress – Which One is Better?

Again, WordPress is PHP’s greatest creation. Whether you have a high-budget or low-budget, you can use both the platforms.

Read More: How To Update PHP Version In WordPress

Final Note

A leader in web technologies all across the globe, PHP is a force to be reckoned with. Whether you want to create an eCommerce store, a simple business website, or a professional blog, PHP is the ideal solution for you. If you want to get it created, there are Web development services that can get you up and running quickly.

It’s a custom language for a custom audience. Thanks for reading!