What Is PHP?

PHP is officially known as PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. It is a server-side scripting language often written in an HTML context. Unlike an ordinary HTML page, a PHP script is not sent directly to a client by the server; instead, it is parsed by the PHP engine. HTML elements in the script are left alone, but PHP code is interpreted and executed. PHP code in a script can query databases, create images, read and write files, talk to remote servers—the possibilities are endless. The output from PHP code is combined with the HTML in the script and the result sent to the user.

PHP is also installed as a command-line application, making it an excellent tool for scripting on a server. Many system administrators now use PHP for the sort of automation that has been traditionally handled by Perl or shell scripting.

Why Choose PHP?

There are some compelling reasons to work with PHP. For many projects, you will find that the production process is significantly faster than you might expect if you are used to working with other scripting languages. At Corrosive we work with both PHP and Java. We choose PHP when we want to see results quickly without sacrificing stability. As an open-source product, PHP is well supported by a talented production team and a committed user community. Furthermore, PHP can be run on all the major operating systems and with most servers.

Speed of Development

Because PHP allows you to separate HTML code from scripted elements, you will notice a significant decrease in development time on many projects. In many instances, you will be able to separate the coding stage of a project from the design and build stages. Not only can this make life easier for you as a programmer, but it also can remove obstacles that stand in the way of effective and flexible design.

PHP Is Open Source

To many people, open source simply means free, which is, of course, a benefit in itself.

Well-maintained open-source projects offer users additional benefits, though. You benefit from an accessible and committed community that offers a wealth of experience in the subject. Chances are that any problem you encounter in your coding can be answered swiftly and easily with a little research. If that fails, a question sent to a mailing list can yield an intelligent, authoritative response.

You also can be sure that bugs will be addressed as they are found, and that new features will be made available as the need is defined. You will not have to wait for the next commercial release before taking advantage of improvements.

There is no vested interest in a particular server product or operating system. You are free to make choices that suit your needs or those of your clients, secure that your code will run whatever you decide.

Performance

Because of the powerful Zend engine, PHP shows solid performance compared with other server scripting languages, such as ASP, Perl, and Java Servlets, in benchmark tests. To further improve performance, you can acquire a caching tool (Zend Accelerator) from http://www.zend.com/; it stores compiled code in memory, eliminating the overhead of parsing and interpreting source files for every request.

Portability

PHP is designed to run on many operating systems and to cooperate with many servers and databases. You can build for a Unix environment and shift your work to NT without a problem. You can test a project with Personal Web Server and install it on a Unix system running on PHP as an Apache module.