PHP is the most “resilient” programming language. For years it has been predicted its imminent demise, but it is still one of the most popular.

And since PHP is still too early to write off from the accounts, let’s understand – where it is used, why PHP is needed and what it is all about.

Features of PHP
These features determine how PHP performs tasks, communicates with sites and applications and who can change it (spoiler – all).

PHP is a scripting language. In such languages, scripts or scripts are written – programs that automate small routine tasks. Otherwise they would simply have to be done manually.

Why do we need scripts?
They help to avoid mistakes. And saves users time – you can change the program without fear that everything else will stop working and the whole system will fall to pieces. If there is suddenly an error in the script, then when you run it you will see it in the result. In this case, the site will remain functional.
Allow you to easily implement cross-platform. The same scripts without problems perform browsers in different operating systems and on different devices.
Execution of the script is also called its interpretation, and PHP itself – the interpreter.

PHP is an interpreted language. Since PHP is an interpreter, this has many advantages:

you don’t need to free allocated memory or close files when you’re done with them – the interpreter does all the routine work;
program debugging and error detection are simplified – the interpreter has full control over this process;
The server does not “hang” if the application does not work correctly.
PHP – the server language. All work takes place on a remote web server. You open the site – the server sends a request, performs the specified actions, gives the result and ends.

PHP is a language with dynamic typing. This means that variable types are determined at runtime, different types can be used together, and implicit conversions are done automatically.

Why PHP was invented
PHP was invented in 1994 by the Danish programmer Rasmus Lerdorf. At that time it was not yet a full-fledged programming language, but only a set of scripts, which allowed Lerdorf to make the first online HTML page.

PHP stands for Personal Home Page and refers to what the language was originally: a tool for designing personal web pages

At that time, the only way to create sites was to not have to read a volume on programming.

Now PHP is supported by Zend Technologies: in 1997, she released the third version of the language and is actively developing it to this day.

As a result, the project has grown to the point that it has received its own syntax, many new features and recognition among developers.