PHP

PHP is a <a href="/facts/General-purpose_programming_language/LyA5zR3M">general-purpose</a> <a href="/facts/Scripting_language/8pF4ajBL">scripting language</a> geared towards <a href="/facts/Web_development/UW5ypSzj">web development</a>. It was originally created by <a href="/facts/Danish_Canadians/C5JVNsts">Danish-Canadian</a> <a href="/facts/Programmer/WGTS1Jv9">programmer</a> <a href="/facts/Rasmus_Lerdorf/kIA4GNwF">Rasmus Lerdorf</a> in 1993 and released in 1995. The PHP <a href="/facts/Reference_implementation/k9B97xel">reference implementation</a> is now produced by the PHP Group. PHP was originally an abbreviation of Personal Home Page, but it now stands for the <a href="/facts/Recursive_acronym/xuAHUPW6">recursive acronym</a> PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor.
PHP code is usually processed on a <a href="/facts/Web_server/A4GS6thA">web server</a> by a PHP <a href="/facts/Interpreter_(computing)/JB85fbyb">interpreter</a> implemented as a <a href="/facts/Plugin_(computing)/351Du3Wu">module</a>, a <a href="/facts/Daemon_(computing)/bzuEVGGX">daemon</a> or a <a href="/facts/Common_Gateway_Interface/zWsLFXGJ">Common Gateway Interface</a> (CGI) executable. On a web server, the result of the <a href="/facts/Interpreter_(computing)/JB85fbyb">interpreted</a> and executed PHP code—which may be any type of data, such as generated <a href="/facts/HTML/sSc3fT78">HTML</a> or <a href="/facts/Binary_number/a6JDSRPs">binary</a> image data—would form the whole or part of an <a href="/facts/HTTP/TWtvf7JD">HTTP</a> response. Various <a href="/facts/Web_template_system/zWstHsCF">web template systems</a>, web <a href="/facts/Content_management_system/CCk4vIxV">content management systems</a>, and <a href="/facts/Web_framework/8f1CVHDX">web frameworks</a> exist that can be employed to orchestrate or facilitate the generation of that response. Additionally, PHP can be used for many programming tasks outside the web context, such as standalone <a href="/facts/Graphical_user_interface/wBlQFWDP">graphical applications</a> and <a href="/facts/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle/qt87T19t">drone</a> control. PHP code can also be directly executed from the <a href="/facts/Command-line_interface/R9JpGmXQ">command line</a>.
The standard PHP interpreter, powered by the <a href="/facts/Zend_Engine/fp2bocmd">Zend Engine</a>, is <a href="/facts/Free_software/IaoVtJXn">free software</a> released under the <a href="/facts/PHP_License/gDm0DzmU">PHP License</a>. PHP has been widely ported and can be deployed on most web servers on a variety of <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating systems</a> and <a href="/facts/Computing_platform/DmKwp5Bk">platforms</a>.
The PHP language has evolved without a written <a href="/facts/Formal_specification/4q2oDkvS">formal specification</a> or standard, with the original <a href="/facts/Implementation/IH1KXgP3">implementation</a> acting as the <a href="/facts/De_facto/3Du6WQKh">de facto</a> standard that other implementations aimed to follow. 
W3Techs reports that as of 27 October 2024 (about two years since PHP 7 was discontinued and 11 months after the PHP 8.3 release), PHP 7 is still used by 50.0% of PHP websites, which is outdated and known to be insecure. In addition, 13.2% of PHP websites use the even more outdated (discontinued for 5+ years) and insecure PHP 5, and the no longer supported PHP 8.0 is also very popular, so the majority of PHP websites do not use supported versions.

PHP open-in-new

PHP