Why PHP
Learn how PHP is still required in the computing market and how it is relevant.
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What is PHP?
PHP is a recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. It is a popular, open source scripting language that is similar to C and especially suited for web development. PHP can be directly embedded into HTML using the <? php and ?> instructions. These simple code instructions allow you to jump between HTML and PHP code without the need for extra commands used with C or Perl.
Another unique factor of PHP is that its code is executed on the server rather than client-side, or the side of the internet that a user sees. Once executed, PHP code generates HTML, which is then sent client-side. This makes PHP very secure and ensures that users cannot see what’s going on behind the screen.
Why should you learn PHP?
PHP is a great starting point for any new developer. PHP’s simplicity means it’s easier to pick up than other languages. Even if you don’t want to work in web development, the syntax and object-oriented thinking skills of PHP can give you a significant advantage when learning other OOP languages like Java or C++.
PHP also comes with a massive community. In fact, Github reports that PHP is the 5th most popular language in the world, PHP has the 3rd largest community on StackOverflow. This large community ensures you’ll never be without help if you get stuck.
Finally, PHP is a widely sought skill in the modern digital economy, and demand is growing. Popular sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, Yahoo, and Flickr are all built on PHP. In fact, data collected by Codementor found that PHP is used for 80% of the world’s top 10 million websites and about 40% of all sites on the internet!
PHP has also gained popularity as the go-to for small businesses. This is because intuitive content management systems like Wordpress and Wix are written in PHP. A lot of PHP web developers are freelance workers who help launch new websites for businesses. The need for PHP developers is increasing.
What is PHP used for?
PHP is most often used in server-side web development. Thanks to server-side execution, PHP is great for dynamic web pages, a type of site which updates periodically or reacts to certain events. PHP’s secure function-hiding abilities also make it ideal for working with sensitive financial or personal information.
Online stores are a place we can see both of these strengths come into play. For example, PHP is used in the “shopping cart” functions of many sites. This is because PHP only sends the outcome of adding the item or completed transaction without giving access to the function.
Beyond this, PHP is also used in command-side scripting and graphical user interface design (GUI). PHP shows its value as a widely available and generalized language capable of running on nearly any operating system or database.
Advantages of PHP
Quick and Easy to Learn: PHP is beginner friendly and can be learned quickly relative to other languages. It’s also often considered a great first language.
Large Community: PHP has a large user base and online support community.
Widely Applicable: PHP can be used on any operating system or database.
Open Source: PHP is free to adopt and download along with all of its tools. This also means that the language is highly receptive to community feedback.
Great Performance: PHP uses its own memory space rather than an overhead server.
Course overview
In this comprehensive course, you will dive into the foundational elements of PHP programming, starting from your very first "Hello World" script and understanding how output works. You will learn how to effectively manage data using variables, constants, and various data types, while mastering arithmetic, logical, and comparison operators to manipulate that information. As you progress, you will build robust decision-making logic using conditional statements like if-else and switch, and implement efficient control flows using for, while, and foreach loops. Through hands-on challenges, like building calculators, printing pyramids, and generating Fibonacci sequences, you will solidify your problem-solving skills and grasp the core mechanics of PHP execution.
Building on those fundamentals, you will elevate your coding capabilities by mastering modular programming with PHP functions, exploring variable scope, recursion, and argument passing by value and reference. You will learn to expertly manipulate text and data structures through advanced string operations and comprehensive array techniques, including multidimensional arrays, sorting, and merging. Finally, you will transition into Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) by designing robust classes, managing inheritance, and utilizing constructors and destructors, culminating in learning how to build resilient applications by implementing try-catch exception handling and custom error management.