PHP - Best Language
Tags: programming, webdev, codenewbie
Published: 2021-07-23 17:25:12

What makes a great programming language?

* Easy to learn
* Longevity
* Updated regularly
* Helpful community
* Lots of jobs
* Good pay

{% youtube QDIpCzZaVE4 %}
*(1 minute video review)*

Developers generally agree that the basics of PHP are relatively easy to learn yet the language has the power and flexibility to handle almost any need.

PHP was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994.  So it has been around for 27 years and currently over 79% of all websites use PHP.  It’s eight times more popular than ASP.NET, its nearest rival in server-side programming languages.

![Server-side language comparison](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/wwmcm337andxv671q4ju.png)

### PHP vs JS for server-side language
![PHP vs JS](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/wqvl7rlugnnbm7k8b0op.png)

PHP has been widely ported and can be deployed on most web servers on almost every operating system and platform, free of charge.

Since 2012 the PHP Development Team release new versions yearly to keep meeting changing technology needs.

## Popular Websites Using PHP
Many big and popular websites use PHP.  Because of this there are always jobs available for PHP programmers.

| Facebook  | WordPress  | Wikipedia  |
| --------- |:-----------|:-------|
| Drupal  | Tumblr  | Slack  |
| Microsoft  | Buffer  | Tesla |
| Yahoo  | Sohu  | Lyft  |
| WhatsApp  | 17ok  | 360.cn  |
| Xinhuanet  | Sina.com.cn  | Zoom.us  |

## Job Listings
In the USA the average PHP programmer makes $93K annually.

[Indeed Remote PHP Jobs](https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=php%20developer%20remote)
[Dice remote PHP Jobs posted in last 7 days](https://www.dice.com/jobs?q=php&countryCode=US&filters.postedDate=SEVEN&filters.isRemote=true)

## 2020 Statistics on Thriving Community
One of the things I like the most about PHP is the community.  It's huge, very active and since the foundation of PHP is open source the developers seem to be extra helpful and friendly.

**3rd Largest StackOverflow Community**
StackOverflow is a programming Q&A site where most programmers spend a lot of time finding answers.  Stats on July 20th were:
* 1,408,950 PHP lifetime questions
* 1,582 posted this week
* 172 posted today (07/20/21)

**5th Largest Meetup Community**
There are 1500+ PHP groups on Meetup.com totaling over 541k members.  PHP is the 5th largest programming Meetup community.  At meet-ups you can network and learn from fellow developers.  Many meet-ups offer mentorship to those who want it.

**5th Most Popular language at GitHub**
The  more useful projects there are, the more likely someone has already built a function you need and built it well, which will greatly speed up your development process. There are over 500 PHP projects that have over 500 stars on GitHub.

## Quotes
*PHP is still a great language because every year, the language improves. That dedication to improvement will give it longevity. A while ago, web developers complained that compared to JavaScript and other web technologies, PHP was slow. The response was the release of PHP 7, which solved the speed issues.*
-Reuben Yonatan, Founder and CEO of GetVoIP

*The PHP ecosystem is actively evolving and improving. There is a huge number of ready-made solutions (frameworks with a large ecosystem of packages, products, services; plugins and libraries, integrations).*
-Vadim Belsky, Head of Web Development at ScienceSoft

*[PHP is] still incredibly powerful in all the things it can accomplish in the area web software development.*
-Bryan Osima, CEO of Uvietech Software Solutions Inc.

*PHP is getting better with each iteration, PHP 7.4 is leaps and bounds better than PHP 7.3, and with 8.0 expected to be released in November, it’s only going to get better as it boasts the new Just In Time compilation (JIT) and a slew of other features.*
-Deepu Prakash, SVP of Process, and Technology Innovation at Fingent

## General Info
PHP originally stood for Personal Home Page, but it now stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor.  PHP is a scripting language based on C and Perl which is mainly used for programming dynamic websites and web applications. As a language it is considered to be beginner-friendly.

## Supporting Links
[5 Reasons PHP is Still a Great Language](https://insights.dice.com/2020/08/20/5-reasons-php-still-a-great-language/)

[W3Techs - Usage statistics of server-side programming languages for websites](https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/programming_language)

[W3Techs - Comparison of the usage statistics of PHP vs. JavaScript for websites](https://w3techs.com/technologies/comparison/pl-js,pl-php)

[8 Best Web Development Languages To Learn in 2021](https://intellipaat.com/blog/best-web-development-languages/)

[TIOBE Index](https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/)

[Why Learn PHP?](https://www.bestprogramminglanguagefor.me/why-learn-php)