What is PHP
The technical answer:
PHP is a server-side scripting language designed for web development but also used as a general-purpose programming language. PHP is now installed on more than 244 million websites and 2.1 million web servers (as of mid 2013).
PHP code is interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the resulting web page: PHP commands can be embedded directly into an HTML source document rather than calling an external file to process data. It has also evolved to include a command-line interface capability and can be used in standalone graphical applications.
PHP is free software released under the PHP License
PHP can be deployed on most web servers and also as a standalone shell on almost every operating system and platform, free of charge.
The non-technical answer
PHP is one of the most popular programming languages used for website development. PHP can be used to create web applications ranging from personal websites to e-commerce applications and community web portals i.e. disucssion forums, blogs etc.
An example is when you go to a website where you have an account you might be greeted on the home page by a message saying welcome back Dave. A simple HTML page could not do this but using php it is possible.
Advantages of PHP
Open Source
PHP is freely available for use. The community of open source PHP developers provides technical support and is constantly improving updating the core PHP functionalities. PHP is available at free of cost under PHP General Public License and most of its associative required software’s like MySQL, Text Editors and Apache Server are also freely available, so it proves very cost effective for the developers.
Cross-Platform
PHP provides high compatibility with leading operating systems and web servers such as thereby enabling it to be easily deployed across several different platforms. PHP scripts can run across operating systems such as Linux, Windows, Solaris, OpenBSD, Mac OSX etc and also provide support for all major web servers such as Apache, IIS, iPlanet etc.
Power
Several web tasks can now be easily perform using PHP. For example now we can develop from small websites to giant business and organizational websites, informative forums, chatting platforms, CRM solutions, e-commerce shopping carts, community websites, e-business, shopping carts and gigantic database driven sites.
User Friendly
Designed in a user friendly manner, PHP gives more flexibility than C, C++ and ASP and overall helps in increasing traffic to the site.
Quick
PHP is designed to work well with the web, and so things like accessing the GET and POST and working with HTML and URLs are built-ins in the PHP language. This makes it really concise and straightforward to make a website.
Extensions
Being an open source language, a large number of libraries and extensions, to extend its core functionalities, are available for download. The source code of PHP can be modified to include custom created extensions and components thereby increasing its extensibility.
Easy Deployment
There are many hosting companies that will, for a few dollars a month, give you a server running PHP so you can make a website really easily.
Automatically Refreshes
Nowadays developing dynamic websites are in the huge demand due to its specific characteristics like it automatically refreshes and does not need to make much changes manually.
Community Support
A huge advantage that PHP offers is its community. If you are looking for a particular script, chances are another user has already created something similar. Check within the PHP community for availability. Likewise, if you have created a function that others might enjoy, be sure to post the code for others.
Other Tools
If you need to access other web based tools like Google maps (which is always advisable for a business website), or any other, PHP makes it easy to access.
Security
PHP offers security as well that helps prevent malicious attacks. These security levels can be adjusted in the .ini file.
Summary
iSeek.ie and PHP Development
We use PHP on a daily basis and in almost every project. We use it on open source projects like WordPress and OpenCart and we use it in project where we write custom code.
We combine PHP with MySQL databases and use the server environment of Linux and Apache.
This environment is commonly called LAMP (Linux operating system, Apache server, MySQL database and PHP scripting). This is a very popular platform for web development.
We have considerable experience with PHP and developing scripts for websites and if you have an idea or feature you would like to discuss we would be happy to hear from you.
PHP Development Quote
Click here if you would like to get a quote for your php website
