Questions such as what is the PHP programming language or what can be done with the PHP programming language are one of the most curious topics today. The curiosity about this question is increasing day by day. The biggest reason for this increase can be shown as the development of web technologies. If you wish, let's take a brief look at what this language is used for and what can be done through it, without further ado.

What is PHP?

echo "hello";

Php, which stands for Hypertext Preprocessor, is a web programming language that has a wide audience. You can make some changes in the Html code using this language. Because it allows these changes, PHP has managed to become a scripting language. In order for the codes to work, the file extension must be “.php”. At the same time, since PHP is a backend language, the file you want to run must be on the server, otherwise the codes you write will not be interpreted by the browser. If you do not have a server or a company from which you receive server services, you can turn your computer into a server. There are programs such as wamp and appserv for this. You can write PHP codes by downloading these programs to your computer. Then we used the echo function to print text on the screen. After writing this function, we placed the text we wanted to be printed on the screen within double quotes. Inferring from this example, as we mentioned above, PHP can be embedded in HTML codes. This is an indication that it has a different structure than languages ​​such as Perl or C.

What Can Be Done with PHP?

You can do anything with PHP, which focuses on server-side programming. Collecting data from the form, creating cookie transactions, and creating page content are some of these operations. Apart from this, many things can be done with PHP. From the example I mentioned above, you may have thought that PHP can only produce Html output. But this is not the case. So PHP is not limited to producing Html output. Other capabilities of the language include producing image output and creating pdf. You can also store your files using the storage system in this language. There are many systems made using PHP. WordPress and Joomla are among the most advanced. In addition, many social media platforms have been developed using PHP and continue to be developed through this language. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter are just a few of these platforms. In addition, the PHP language is used to create web-based robots. In order to program from the server side, you need a PHP analyzer, an HTTP server and a browser. Once you meet these needs, you can start implementing it on the web. Moreover, PHP can run on all operating systems. With this feature, it increases the language usage and preference rate day by day. It also supports many of the PHP HTTP servers. Apache and ISS are examples of these. There is also PHP support on FastCGI, Lighttpd and Ngix servers.

Benefits of PHP   

Since it is an open source language, PHP continues its development constantly. PHP is Linux based, but being Linux based did not prevent it from being used on different servers. With the help of a virtual server, PHP can be easily run on all servers.    Since its use is widespread and its development continues, those who want to learn the language will not have a shortage of resources.  It is a very fast programming language.  It is quite advanced in terms of performance and security.

PHP Database Support

The main reason why the PHP language is so popular today is its extensive database support. In other words, you can create database-connected websites with structures such as PDO. Moreover, this process is quite simple. In addition, the database that PHP code writers are familiar with is MySQL. Just as Windows Server comes to mind as a database management system when Asp.net is mentioned, MySQL comes to mind when Php is mentioned. PHP also provides convenience for you to connect to different databases. You can easily do this with the help of cURL plugin and sockets.