The Future of PHP: Bright or Bland?
Computers have a significant impact in the modern world. And these computers are run by a computer program organized using programming languages. Programming languages are driving advances in information technology. One of the oldest and most important languages is PHP. But, people are questioning its relevance in the modern world as new languages come into the market. Undoubtedly, PHP is still enough to stay in the limelight, compete with modern ones, and be effectively used by businesses in software development.
In a nutshell, programming languages serve as the basis for all the conveniences we enjoy today. From online games to Uber apps, these have become reality through programming languages.
In this article, we’ll start by answering, “what is PHP?”
What is PHP?
PHP is a recursive acronym for Hypertext Preprocessor, which was created in 1995 to serve various purposes. It is a popular general purpose scripting language widely used by web developers.
Additionally, Hypertext Preprocessor works well with HTML and is useful when creating a single page. In fact, it is used by well-known websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia, and is the preferred language of renowned content management systems such as Magenta, WordPress, and Joomla.
The good side of PHP
Although there is a plethora of modern programming languages, PHP is still important and relevant to this day. According to Statista, PHP is used to build around 78.9% of websites, making it one of the most popular programming languages.
Its most recent version includes a bug fix and is compatible with most operating systems including macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Benefits of using PHP
- Faster and advanced
- Developing web applications with PHP has never been easier than with the latest version 8.1. It includes new features and improvements. Moreover, it provides solutions for some unwanted features.
- open-source
- PHP is a free technology with a large developer community discussing and improving the programming language.
- Fast loading speed
- With its built-in memory which reduces the loading time and workload, PHP enjoys fast loading speed. Also, it has a fast processing speed which is a plus for businesses and developers.
- Affordable
- As an open-source and free technology, any business can build a feature-rich website without licensing fees.
- Scalable
- PHP makes it easy for progressive businesses to scale their website. All that is required is the addition of more servers.
The bland side of PHP
Although PHP has improved over the years, it still has to compete with other more computationally efficient languages. Currently, it lacks multitasking support and JIT compilation, which makes things difficult for developers.
Here are some of the factors that cast a shadow over that silver lining.
- Because PHP has so many frameworks, it can be difficult for new programmers to get started.
- PHP security needs to be improved. PHP is responsible for around 30% of all vulnerabilities, which may be due to language fragmentation.
What does the future of PHP hold for us?
Indeed, there is an end to all tangible things. So like with technology. But, PHP is not going to disappear in the next few years.
There are many reasons why the future of PHP is highly secure in the coming years. Let’s take a look at what the future of PHP holds:
- Release of the latest version
Version 8.0.0, the recent PHP version updates, brought massive performance improvements. Version 7 and later versions such as 7.1, 7.2, etc. are known to have low memory usage.
- Provides professional assistance
PHP always has a professional on hand to provide comprehensive solutions for website owners and developers. This is yet another reason why PHP developers have an edge over other language programmers.
- Allows dynamic access
PHP allows PHP development companies to dynamically create websites. Moreover, expert development companies use many PHP libraries to offer eCommerce and CM solutions.
These libraries have allowed PHP to thrive and ensured its continued growth.
- Friendly language
To put it simply, PHP is easy to update and fits well with various operating systems like Windows, Linux, MacOs, etc. It is so easily packaged that it can only run with two commands on the command line. Moreover, anyone with little technical knowledge can use it to create a website.