A Complete Guide to PHP – a Scripting language

PHP is a very famous scripting language used in “server-side” web development. To code everything, it is important to know about the scripting language. In simple words, Scripting languages can be said as a family or group of programming languages including PHP, and languages like JavaScript and Ruby are a subset of coding languages that are utilized to automate processes that should otherwise be run step by step in the code of a site each time they occur.

It includes stuff like dialogue boxes that open on a screen in reply to a user’s actions, and chatbots that react to the user’s distinct behavior with equivalent messages. The animation that occurs when a user moves beyond an assured point of a page: any dynamic website function that wants to appear on the screen without the user having to reload a particular site physically. Script languages such as PHP are different from markup languages such as HTML and CSS in the sense that while HTML and CSS decide the design and appearance of web pages, the script languages inform a static web page (created with HTML and CSS) that “makes” specific actions. If a person has spent some time reading about JavaScript, this may sound familiar. So, PHP is a way to achieve what a person can do with JavaScript? We are providing the PHP assessment and all information about PHP in one place.

Unique features of PHP

PHP is a very famous language, and it contains various features. Some of these characteristics are general since they are offered in many programming languages such as C, C ++, Perl, and more. Besides, PHP contains unique features including Familiarity, Simplicity, Efficiency, Security, Flexibility, Open Source, and Oriented to objects.

Familiarity

If a person has a programming background, then he can without a doubt understand the PHP syntax. He can write PHP scripts quickly because the majority of PHP syntax is inherited from other various languages like C or Pascal.

Simplicity

PHP offers different predefined functions to protect the data. It is also well-matched with many third-party applications, and PHP can be incorporated with others. In the PHP script, it is not necessary to comprise libraries like c, or special compiler directives such as Java, the PHP engine initiates the execution from the escape sequence (<?) And ends with a closing escape sequence (<?). In the PHP script, there is no requirement to write the primary function. And people can do work with PHP without creating a class.

Efficiency

More pronounced support for object-oriented programming and advanced resource allocation mechanisms were introduced by PHP 4.0 apart from its usual session management features. This eliminates unnecessary memory allocation and assures high-level efficiency work with PHP as a scripting language.

Security

Multiple trusted data encryption choices are supported in the predefined set of PHP functions. People can use many third-party applications to protect their data, which allows them to protect their applications. you can also read a detailed guide on PHP security.

Flexibility

It can express that PHP is a very bendable language because PHP is a built-in language that can embed PHP scripts with HTML, JAVASCRIPT, WML, XML, and many others. User can execute their PHP script on any device such as a mobile phone, tabs, laptop, PC, and others since the PHP script runs on the server and then is sent to the browser of their device.

Free

PHP is an open-source programming language so the user can download it freely; there is no requirement to buy a license or anything.

Object-Oriented

PHP has extra object-oriented programming features, and Object-Oriented programming became feasible with PHP4. With the beginning of PHP 5, PHP developers have reinforced PHP’s object-oriented functions, resulting in more speed and additional functions.

Why utilize PHP: –

It is understandable that user has at their head a series of programming languages; they may wonder why people would want to utilize PHP as their poison for web programming. Below are some of the compelling reasons.

1.  PHP is free and open-source.

2. Short learning curve evaluates to other languages like JSP, ASP, etc.

3. Great community document.

4. Most web hosting servers support PHP by default, unlike other languages, like ASP that require IIS. It makes PHP a cost-effective option.

5. PHP is updated regularly to keep up with the latest technological trends.

6. Another benefit that the user gets with PHP is that it is a scripting language on the server side; this means that the user is only required to install it on the server and the client computers that request server resources do not need to have PHP installed; Only a web browser would suffice.

7. PHP has integrated support to work hand in hand with MySQL; this does not mean that the user cannot utilize PHP with other database management systems. Users can still utilize PHP with Postgres, Oracle, MS SQL Server, ODBC, etc.

8. PHP is cross-platform; This means that the user can implement their application in several different operating systems, like Windows, Linux, Mac OS, etc.

PHP file extensions: – File extension and tags for the server to identify our PHP files and scripts, we must save the file with the extension “.PHP”. The oldest PHP file extensions include Phtml, php3, php4, php5, and PHPs.

PHP was designed to work with HTML, and as such, it can be incorporated into the HTML code.

What are the functionalities of PHP?

• Creating dynamic page content.
• Opening, reading, writing, removing, and closing files on the server.
• Gathering form data.
• Sending and receiving cookies.
• Adding, deleting, and amending data in its database.
• Maintaining user access.
• Encrypting data.

With PHP users are not restricted to generating HTML. They can create images, PDF files, and Flash movies. Users can also produce any text, such as XHTML and XML.

Advantages of PHP over other scripting languages

If you are familiar with other languages like Java or ASP.NET, you will certainly look for the advantages of PHP over these languages. These advantages are what make PHP one of the most used scripting languages. Here are the important advantages of PHP over other languages.

Easy to learn

None of the programmers love difficult-to-learn languages, especially beginners. PHP is so easy to learn and is the reason why most beginners consider PHP to start out with web development. It is not a wonder that famous websites like Yahoo, Facebook, Wikipedia, and Flickr are built using PHP.

Portability

Present businessmen and service providers need their websites and apps to run on multiple platforms. It is the efficiency of the scripting language that makes the websites and apps work on various platforms including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. PHP helps developers develop web solutions and apps that work smoothly and fast in all of the platforms and are compatible with most of the servers such as IIS, Apache, etc. Most of the important content management systems including Drupal, WordPress, Magento, and Joomla are built on PHP.

Fast performance

This is one of the important advantages that keeps PHP as the first choice in scripting language by most developers. Scripts written in PHP run faster than the scripts written in other languages. This means the website and apps perform with better speed to keep the clients and customers with the business.

So, that is all about PHP.