What Is PHP Web Development? Its Importance & Usage In 2023

As nearly everything around us becomes digitized, the end is nowhere in sight for the Internet. With businesses increasing their digital presence to reach audiences more effectively, web development has never been more in demand, putting the spotlight on a 27-year-old programming language. As that continues, the relevance of PHP web development grows.

Some of the biggest companies, like Facebook and WordPress, use PHP to power their online platforms. Despite the wide range of programming languages available, why is PHP still widely used?

The goal of this article is to explain what PHP is and how it works. In turn, you’ll learn how it can be used for website application development and its importance in the modern business climate. With the knowledge you gain from this article, you will understand why PHP is a programming language worth using.

PHP: A Quick Introduction

Also known as hypertext preprocessor, PHP is a general-purpose scripting language used by programmers to create a dynamic and interactive website. Created and released in the early 90s, PHP is one of the pioneers of server-side language that could be embedded into HTML, making it easier to develop and add website functions.

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Despite being in the game for a long time now, PHP development is far from being outdated code. Over the years, regular upgrades have been provided, which include new capabilities and advanced features a PHP developer could maximize.

That’s why it remains one of the most popular open-source web development languages today. It’s used by individuals with the technical know-how and companies who offer PHP web development services.

Now that you have an idea of what it is, it’s time to learn the advantages of PHP web application development. 

What Are The Advantages of PHP Development?

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There are other programming languages, like Ruby, Javascript, and Python. Even so, PHP remains a popular choice for web development in some of the largest companies in the world.

So, what sets PHP apart from others? With all the competition, why is this 27-year-old language still relevant and highly valuable?

Here are some of the advantages of using PHP for a web development project:

A. Fast Processing 

The idea that coding or web development takes a long time is common among many people. Getting it right is not an easy process and requires many steps. PHP can, however, reduce development time if you choose it as your code.

That’s thanks to it using its own memory, making the processing and development speed faster by minimizing server workload and loading time. To help put things into perspective, PHP is way faster than other programming languages – it’s 195% faster than Ruby, while it’s 382% faster than Python.

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Not only that, but PHP’s speed also helps in increasing website performance. Besides being helpful to developers, this also benefits the clients of website development services. 

Let’s see how speed affects a SaaS business. To leverage the clients’ digital assets, a company offering a digital asset management platform has to be fast in uploading, downloading, and sharing files between employees. Otherwise, it can cause frequent task delays, affecting their overall business operations.

B. Well-Supported

Several frameworks support PHP for website development. They help developers create websites and applications faster and more efficiently. There are many different types of frameworks, including:

• Yii2
• Laravel
• Symfony
• CakePHP 
• CodeIgniter
• Zend Framework

Additionally, many servers are available for running PHP code, including Apache 2+, Nginx 1+, and IIS 8+. The most popular server is Apache 2+ because of its broad support across all operating systems and hosting providers as well as its extensive documentation

What’s more, there are plenty of affordable hosting services that support PHP, helping to reduce the loading time even further. 

C. Database Access

A critical aspect of web development is its database access, which allows developers to easily interact with databases. And since accessing databases is often time-consuming, having a programming language that makes it easy to connect programs to data sources makes things easier for developers and faster for users.

That’s not all. Having many database options (email database, B2B database, eCommere database to name a few) is crucial because it stores every piece of information that goes through a website, including client information and other confidential data. Luckily, in most cases, PHP is compatible with most databases and can integrate with them.

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All companies can benefit from PHP being compatible with many databases. Among those companies are the ones that deal with personal and sensitive information, such as email verification and email checking tools.

Data security must be a top priority to sustain and gain more clients. PHP’s flexibility with database management gives the development team more liberty to choose which database suits the website best to protect the company’s information.

D. Open-Source

The fact that PHP is open-source is one of the great advantages of using it for web applications. You won’t have to pay a licensing fee, reducing your overall development cost even if you create an extensive website.

Being open-source means there is a huge developer community behind it. As such, there are a lot of tutorials, tips, and discussions on how to enhance this general-purpose scripting language. This is excellent for companies offering PHP web development services since their programmers can look for information faster and implement changes immediately.

Let’s take a look at how this can be helpful for a budding entrepreneur without many resources. 

First, you can limit the additional costs. Second, you can hire a remote team for your product/website development to make the process less complicated. A remote development team already has access and relationships in the PHP community, thus, streamlining the development process.

Finally, outsourcing your PHP web applications task to a group of experts means you’ll get to leverage their advanced knowledge to provide you with different perspectives and suggestions to improve your website.

E. Object-Oriented 

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An object-oriented approach to application development can be summarized as follows:

• Web application functionality is described by object-oriented analysis
• Through the use of object-oriented design, the application’s architecture is described
• The object-oriented programming method describes the implementation of the application

PHP is an object-oriented programming (OOP) language. OOP is a programming paradigm that uses classes, methods, objects, and variables to create modular, reusable code. OOP allows PHP to be used in a wide variety of applications, from simple web pages to complex content management systems.

F. Scalable And Simple

What makes PHP so popular and loved by developers is that it’s easy to use and allows flexibility, making the development process a little less complicated. Its syntax is comprehensible, decreasing the learning curve for beginners and speeding up the process for experts. 

Whether for building a new website or extending an existing framework, PHP is a programming language reliable for anyone looking to develop websites. 

PHP is also scalable, so it won’t limit the growth of your business since it can be modified to handle increased traffic or site expansion. It’s easy to extend PHP-based websites by adding more servers as required. Plus, there’s no need to write lines of code over and over again from scratch.

Overall, an understanding of its advantages will enable us to answer the question that most companies are seeking, its cost.

The Cost Of Using PHP 

Due to its speed, support, compatibility, flexibility, and open-source nature, it not only reduces development time but also lowers development costs. Not to mention, the cost of hiring expensive programmers for a PHP project is more lenient.

So, why are PHP backend developers more affordable?

Despite the rising need for such professionals, the strong competition among them makes them settle for more modest salaries. Whether as a freelancer with hourly rates or as a full-time employee of a PHP web development services company, their abundance helps drive down their price. Thus, leaving businesses with a lower bill to pay to backend developers.

To help you find and hire the right people for your development project, there are several recruitment tools you could utilize, like:

• Assessment Tools
• Applicant Tracking Systems
• Video Interviewing Platforms
• Candidate Relationship Management Software

But there’s more. To make sure you’re getting your money’s worth, you can use time-tracking software, like DeskTime. Even if you don’t have the technical know-how, you’ll know if objectives are met and if the project is efficiently moving along. 

For instance, adding milestones based on your developer’s process can be helpful. You could monitor when the website analysis is done or when the backend code has been written.

After hiring your developer or development team, it’s time to learn about when to upgrade your website with the latest PHP version.

When To Upgrade Your PHP?

As it’s an old program, it’s not surprising that there have been multiple versions released over time. Generally, PHP versions last about three years, with active support lasting about two years, after which only critical security issues can be addressed. Thus, old versions of this server-side scripting language might pose higher risks and increase bug reporting activities.

To maintain a high-level performance for your website, always use the latest PHP version. An outdated code can lead to errors, which means it’s bad for business and money down the drain. Consequently, the developer team should always check which version in production is the latest.

With that, it’s time to give real-life examples of major companies utilizing PHP for their websites to see its importance in today’s world.

3 Famous Websites Using PHP

With a more straightforward and cost-effective development process, PHP is the server-side scripting choice for some of the most prolific companies in the world. Couple that with talented developers, and the results are dynamic, interactive, and engaging websites, eCommerce platforms, and applications.

Let’s see the companies that PHP helped shape and grow.

1. Wikipedia

One of the most well-known websites for quick information gathering, Wikipedia is a website built on the reliability, stability, and scalability of PHP. Its development team always has its plate full since this website goes through 1.9 edits per second. Not to mention, hundreds of new articles are uploaded to it daily.

2. Facebook

Who doesn’t know Facebook? It’s one of the biggest social media platforms used by almost everyone with a computer or internet access. To maximize the scalability and flexibility of PHP for its website’s needs, it created its version of the programming language. That’s not surprising considering it has to support billions of users on its platform.

3. Canva

From motion graphics and IG reels to presentation and social media templates, Canva has boomed into worldwide recognition territory. Its wide range of services on its free and premium plans are all supported by PHP coding.

Content Management Systems (CMS) Using PHP

Not every entrepreneur has the budget or resources to create a full-scale interactive website application. However, with the help of content management systems (CMS), users can create their captivating websites even without years of expertise. 

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Developers can use different CMS platforms to build websites and eCommerce stores, most of which use PHP. Let’s see what those platforms are and what you can do with them.

I. WordPress

This has the lion’s share since it’s one of the most well-known and used CMS platforms in the world. From small-time bloggers and influencers to multi-million dollar companies and big eCommerce stores, WordPress is the go-to platform for easier website building. Of course, it can also handle complex and more interactive websites, it’s just going to cost more.

II. Magento 

Magento is an open-source eCommerce platform documented in PHP and makes use of other PHP frameworks, notably Laminas and Symfony. Some of the biggest car companies in the world, like Ford and Land Rover, utilize this CMS platform.

III. Joomla

This CMS platform has PHP as its backbone language and uses it throughout its system. This is a platform used by some very interactive websites, like IKEA. It offers comfort, functionality, and flexibility. 

As you can see from the examples, PHP is versatile and flexible. You’re in excellent company if you decide to use one of these CMS platforms.

Moreover, with an abundance of choices, your development team can have the freedom to explore to see what’s the best match for your business. Therefore, you can provide your customers with the most personalized, feature-rich, and engaging online experience possible.

Want to know more? Let’s move on to IDEs and learn how they make PHP programming easier, especially for newbie developers.

What Are PHP IDEs?

An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a software application that provides a set of tools for computer programming. In the case of PHP, it’s used to create websites and applications.

Integrated Development Environments provides many useful features for web development, including:

• Code completion: suggests names and keywords as you type code or navigate through files.
• Syntax highlighting: helps you identify errors in your code by highlighting them with different colors or fonts. This will save a lot of time because you won’t have to go back through everything again and again looking for mistakes.
• Debugging tools: this allows you to analyze and troubleshoot errors in your code without having to visit each line of code in your browser.

Overall, IDEs can help you or your developers in creating clean codes, resulting in fewer errors. Thus, saving some precious time and money. 

With that, it’s time to know more about what lies ahead for PHP.

Will PHP Still Be Relevant In 2023?

The answer is: absolutely! 

PHP is currently one of the most widely used programming languages on the web, and it’s been that way for a long time. And for good reason—it’s easy to learn, easy to use, and has a huge community around it. That won’t stop in the next year or anytime soon.

As you can see from the examples above, it powers some of the biggest websites and CMS platforms on the planet, which handle billions of users. And those companies are not going anywhere. 

Whether you’re creating a simple website or something more complex, PHP won’t cause you much trouble. So, let’s see how else it can help you and your business.

How Can PHP Help You?

PHP web development is an indispensable part of any business that wants to thrive in today’s digital world, including yours. The flexibility of PHP allows you to adapt your site to any platform and device, making it easy for customers to access your content no matter where they are. 

For instance, as a face mask seller, you’re going to need a secure website to protect the data and financial information of your customers. PHP can give your business that through its strong database compatibility thus helping in making your brand trustworthy.

Not to mention, you’ll need it to be fast so they can jump from one product category to another without disruptions. With PHP web development, your website will have speed and reliability to ensure that each page loads quickly and accurately. This will increase traffic from search engines, which means more qualified leads for your business. 

In addition, it will give your customers a positive experience when visiting your site, which will increase their trust in your brand as well as their likelihood of purchasing from you again in the future. 

And with its flexibility, PHP can help you improve your website to match the needs and preferences of your target audience. Think of it as something like the Ads Settings from Google. It gathers data from users and utilizes it to create more personalized advertisements. 

The concept is the same for your website when you opt to use PHP since this programming language gives developers wiggle room for changes or site expansion as we’ve discussed earlier in this post. Using user data, you can refine your website and give users a better and more seamless experience.

Conclusion

PHP is one of the easiest programming languages to learn, master, and implement; it’s extremely flexible and powerful. As a relatively simple language (compared to what most programmers deal with daily), it’s easy to keep track of, making coding errors less likely, and reducing costs and development time. 

It offers more advantages for companies looking for web solutions in general. Plus, it allows for the creation of dynamic websites with ease and makes them accessible from anywhere.

As great as social media is at connecting with your customers, a well-developed, interactive, user-friendly, and engaging website will always be the last destination of customers before making a purchase decision.

Here at AXIOMQ, all your great ideas can turn into digital reality. From business analysis to application development, our talented team is always ready. Check out what we can do for YOU here. Don’t hesitate to click the “Get In Touch” button.

About the author:

Burkhard Berger is the founder of Novum™. Follow Burkhard on his journey from $0 to $100,000 per month. He’s sharing everything he learned in his income reports on Novum™ so you can pick up on his mistakes and wins.