PHP For Web Development

What is PHP?

PHP is a server side scripting language.

PHP is an interpreted language, i.e. there is no need for compilation.

PHP is an object-oriented language.

PHP is an open-source scripting language.

PHP is used to develop web applications (an application i.e. executed at server side and generates

dynamic page).

Advantages of Web Development Using PHP

Increased efficiency and usability: It offers incomparable usability and efficiency when used for website

development.

Data processing: Any website which is developed with the use of PHP functions easily and includes fast

data processing features.

Compatible: PHP is compatible with almost all local servers used today like Apache, IIS etc.

Cost advantages: It is quite affordable to design, develop, modify and customize PHP based websites. Most

of the website development companies offer professional services in the field of PHP which include CMS development, developing web application, websites designing and so forth.

Easy to comprehend: In comparison to other scripting languages, PHP is quite easy to comprehend with its

simple features and techniques.

Integration: It is also easy to integrate major web applications with this scripting language.

Platform Independent: PHP are available for WINDOWS, MAC, LINUX & UNIX operating system. A PHP application developed in one OS can be easily executed in other OS also.

HTML: PHP code can be easily embedded within HTML tags and script.

PHP Frameworks

Building software applications can be a complex, time consuming process, however utilizing a framework

can help you develop projects faster (by reusing generic components and modules), and work better

(building on one unified structural foundation).

Using a framework also facilitates scalability and long-term maintenance by complying with development

standards, keeping your code organized and allowing your application to evolve and grow over time.There are many PHP frameworks to build interoperable, agile applications, such as CodeIgniter, Yii, etc.

1. CodeIgniter

CodeIgniter is a powerful PHP framework with a small footprint, built for those who required a simple, yet

elegant toolkit to build fully-featured web applications. It requires nearly zero configuration, with no restrictive coding rules, and offers simple solutions to complex application requirements.

2. Zend Framework 2

Zend Framework 2 is an open-source framework for developing web applications, using object-oriented

code. The components in the standard library form a powerful an extensible framework when combined,

offering a robust, high performance MVC implementation. It's easily extensible, adapting to your needs, with

a modular base so you can use building blocks in combination with other applications or frameworks.

3. Yii

Yii is a high-performance PHP framework which has powerful caching support and is explicitly designed to

work efficiently with AJAX. Security is important, and that's why Yii includes input validation, output

filtering, SQL injection and Cross-site scripting prevention. As Yii follows the MVC pattern, it helps you

develop clean and reusable code, ensuring a clear separation of logic and presentation. You can model

database data in terms of objects and avoid the complexity and tedious nature of writing repetitive SQL

statements. Collecting form input is both safe and easy, as Yii comes with a set of validators as well as

numerous helper methods and widgets.

CMS

A content management system (CMS) is a system used to manage the content of a Web site.

Not only content management systems helps website users with content editing, they also take care of a lot of

"behind the scenes" work such as:

Automatically generate navigation elements

Making content searchable and indexable

Keeping track of users, their permissions and security settings

Most Usable Content Management Systems are:

1. WordPress

2. Drupal

1. WordPress

WordPress is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL.

2. Drupal

Drupal is another CMS that has a very large, active community. Instead of focusing on blogging as a

platform, Drupal is more of a pure CMS.

Few Websites Developed With PHP

1. Yahoo: One of the most trafficked website on the planet with more than 627 million unique visitors per

month.

2. FaceBook: It is no secret that Facebook makes use of PHP in the user end.

3. Wikipedia: The best free source for all kinds of information over web Wikipedia is developed using a software called MediaWiki which is written in PHP.

4. Flickr: The web’s leading photo sharing site hosting over 2.5 billion images uses PHP.

5. WordPress.com: Wordpress is also developed using PHP and JavaScript and in addition to that JQuery

library is also used for animating, event handling.

Market Share

Let's check how popular is php: