PHP Development - Expert Guide
What is PHP Development?
The term PHP is an acronym for PHP: Hypertext Pre-processor. PHP is a server-side scripting language designed particularly for web development. It is open-source which means it is free to download and use. It is very simple to learn and use. The files created have the extension “.php”. PHP is the fastest and most widely used server-side scripting language for building websites and web apps.
PHP is an intuitive, server-side scripting language. Like any other scripting language, it allows users to build logic into the production of web page content and handle data withdrawn from a web browser. PHP also contains several extensions that make it easy to interact with databases, extracting data to be displayed on a web page and cataloging information entered by a website visitor back into the database.
PHP consists of a scripting language and an interpreter. Like other scripting languages, PHP enables web development projects to define the behavior and logic required in a web page.
To make PHP work easier, experts have formulated some PHP development tools that increase programming efficiency.
Often considered to be a fairly divisive language, PHP has established itself as one of the most-used server-side scripting languages out there today.
Why is PHP Necessary for a Business?
PHP is considered to be highly approachable for web development due to many reasons. It’s rather easy and inexpensive to set up, therefore allowing server-side applications to deploy conveniently.
PHP is assumed to be straightforward to work with, which makes it extremely easy to locate experienced talents as compared to some other more niche programming languages.
Over the past few decades, a lot of PHP projects have been maintained and modernized to assure it is still highly functional and pertinent as before. The PHP development team consistently updated the language to offer object-oriented programming, keeping it competitive with other platforms like Javascript.
Out of the box, PHP is designed to seamlessly work with the most commonly used database languages such as MySQL. This allows web development to run smoothly regardless of the amount of data to deal with.
Designed specifically to handle large amounts of data on the server-side, PHP fits nicely into the web-development landscape.
Being an older language PHP has a massive community of developers, and a wide range of documentation to help to get started using it.
There are innumerable guides and individual message boards to give guidance and tools needed to get the most out of PHP.
On top of this, there is a huge framework of established functions that can be relied on to build a diverse range of server-side modules and applications.
As mentioned before, PHP is one of the most widely used languages on the web. Here is a list of factors PHP is used for:
- PHP performs system procedures, i.e., from files on a system it can create, open, read, write, and close them.
- PHP can handle forms, i.e., assemble data from files, save data to a file, send data, and return data to the user through email.
- Add, delete, and modify elements within a database through PHP.
- Access cookies variables and set cookies.
- Using PHP, restrict users to access some pages of the website.
- It can encrypt data.
Best PHP Development Tools (Update 2022)
PHP tools are meant to account for a perfect IDE (Integrated Development Environment) where PHP users can efficiently build confronting, innovative, and feature-rich PHP projects.
Here are the best PHP development tools that captured the attention of web development communities.
PHPStorm
With the nature of being lightweight, extremely fast, and smooth, PHPStorm is the most standard choice for other PHP development tools. This PHP IDE works exceptionally with PHP frameworks like Zend Framework, Symfony, Yii, Laravel, CakePHP, and with popular Content Management Systems (CMS) like Drupal, Magento, and WordPress.
Zend Studio
Most web development projects prefer Zend Studio because of its optimal speed. Writing and debugging code in Zend Studio doesn’t require any extra effort and time from developers. While supporting PHP 7, it debugs PHP scripts by integrating X-ray, Xdebug, and Zend Debugger.
NuSphere PhpED
PhpED is a proprietary integrating PHP development tool offered by NuSphere. This PHP IDE includes an advanced PHP editor, Profiler, PHP debugger, and database client & code insight. This utility delivers the developers with several tools and tweaks that will make the whole web development process less cumbersome.
Netbeans
NetBeans, the most widely used PHP IDE for PHP application development. This tool comes with all the rich features, which support multiple languages. NetBeans was originally used for Java development, but the current version of this tool is lightweight, faster as well as confirmational for PHP development services.
Cloud 9
Cloud9, an open-source cloud IDE provides a development environment for hundreds of programming languages, and PHP, C, C++, JavaScript, and Python are the names of a few. It enables users to start coding instantly with pre-configured environments called workspace and build web applications with features like browser compatibility testing & live preview.
What's the Difference Between PHP Development and PHP Web Development?
Here is a significant difference between PHP development and PHP web development. PHP web development projects include designing and programming software to build various websites. It enables users to utilize design frontend and backend programming software to create multiple Internet websites and applications.
PHP web development work on as well as Frontend technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Whereas PHP development users have abilities to handle multiple websites, applications, and also programs using PHP language.
While there are many web programming languages available, PHP has transferred the highest level of demand and has become the most typically used website programming language. It also allows the website via its unique plug and plays features.
Although the word itself has multiple points, developers add more worth to it because they have excellent coordination with the clients and understand the particular needs of the projects.
Web developers are professionals who use design and programming software to build different Internet websites whereas a PHP programmer is a special kind of software designer whose job proficiency includes creating different websites, applications, and also programs using PHP language.
Advantages of Using PHP For a Business
There are many good reasons why several businesses prefer PHP to other server-side languages like Python and Ruby. PHP includes detailed documentation, numerous ready-to-use scripts, a huge community, and well-supported frameworks.
Open-source
PHP is an open-source programming language which means that developers can use it without even paying for the services. PHP frameworks are also free to use which makes building web applications quicker and easier.
Platform Independent
PHP works on all operating systems and does not require any particular software for web applications to render on the web browser. Many web applications on the internet still use PHP as their backend technology.
Easy to Learn
PHP was designed to be simple and easy to maintain. Users with experience working with other programming languages will find PHP a little different but still very easy to pick up.
Database
PHP is used for the backend and can connect to the database very easily. This is because PHP is formulated using certain capabilities to facilitate these connections efficiently. It’s no surprise that PHP is part of the widely popular LAMP stack.
Versatile
One of the major benefits of PHP is that it is platform-independent, meaning it can be used on Mac OS, Windows, and Linux and supports most web browsers. It also supports all the major web servers, making it easy to deploy on different systems and platforms at minimal additional cost.
Performance
PHP’s efficiency in dealing with databases makes it an optimal choice for creating performance web applications that might be accessed by users with a below-average internet connection. PHP is capable of loading websites fast.
Plentiful Documentation
Many tutorials, manuals, and other reference materials are available, which facilitate the development and may offer help and the basis of inspiration in tough situations. These materials are also invaluable for novice programmers making the learning process easier with gradually increasing difficulty.
Maintenance
PHP uses the MVC architecture to keep code tidy and easily maintained.
Combinability with HTML
PHP offers embedded HTML programming, which is the reason for the incredible synergy between these two technologies. In most cases, a PHP script does not interfere with the HTML code of a web page but instead completes it while persisting inside the borders.
Security
PHP has built-in elements and tools to protect web applications from security threats such as SQL injection, data tampering, and forgery.
PHP uses its memory and runs well on speed, especially when using the newer versions. There have been several questions in the past about PHP security, though it is significant to note that it is not naturally more or less secure than other programming languages.
Stability
PHP has been around for a long time and is extremely stable in comparison to other modern languages.
Community
PHP has an extremely active community across the internet and Stack Overflow where answers to many questions can be easily found and enforced into a code.
Companies Who Use PHP
Several prominent enterprises and web platforms use PHP for their projects. Some are as follows:
Why Use PHP Instead of any Other Programming Languages?
In today's technology world, a large number of programming languages are available for businesses to build websites and apps like Python, JavaScript, Node JS, and PHP.
The functional nature makes PHP learning simple compared to other programming languages including JavaScript. JavaScript seems harder to learn because of the complexity and procedure of the event queue. There is an interesting cold war between PHP and JavaScript, and PHP is not showing any signs of dying down.
When comparing Node.js and PHP through various angles, including Performance, Frameworks, Hosting, and Coding, PHP wins the battle.
Similarly, Python VS PHP is a never-ending debate, and no one can get rid of the fact that Python is cooler than PHP in several fields and vice versa! When judging performance, Python beats PHP with its code compilation method. However, with 79.0% of websites using PHP and 1.1% of websites using Python, it can be concluded that PHP dominates Python.
Is PHP Enough for Web Development?
PHP is mainly used for web development, and it truly excels in this area. Though originally it was used to create dynamic web pages, users prefer to use this scripting language for building the server-side of web applications. However, PHP is originally a general-purpose language, so it may have other implementations if required.
The versatility of this scripting language results from its excellent ability to combine with other programming languages.
What is a PHP framework?
A PHP framework provides a basic structure for streamlining the development of web apps. They are used because they speed up the development process. Frameworks are useful because they speed up and standardize the development process, reducing doubts about how to start building an application.
Here’s a list of the best PHP frameworks, based on popularity and ability to stimulate better application development.
Laravel
Introduced in 2011, Laravel has become the most popular free, open-source PHP framework in the world. It can handle complex web applications securely, at a considerably faster pace than other frameworks. Laravel facilitates the development process by easing common assignments such as routing, sessions, caching, and authentication.
CodeIgniter
Known for its small footprint. CodeIgniter is a PHP framework suitable for formulating dynamic websites. It gives numerous prebuilt modules that help with establishing robust and reusable components.
Symfony
The Symfony framework was launched in 2005, and although it’s been in existence for much longer than other frameworks on this list, it’s a reliable and mature platform. Symfony is a comprehensive PHP MVC framework and the only framework known to follow PHP and web standards to the tee.
CakePHP
CakePHP allows the cultivation of visually impressive, feature-loaded websites. In addition, CakePHP is one of the easiest frameworks to learn, especially because of its CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) framework. CakePHP hit the market in the early 2000s, and since then it’s progressed with better performance and many new components.
Yii
The Yii framework — which stands for it is in fact, simple and evolutionary. It’s a high-performance, component-based PHP framework for developing modern web applications. Yii is suitable for all kinds of web apps. For this reason, it’s a universal web programming framework.
Zend Framework
The Zend framework is completely object-oriented, and the fact that it uses features such as interfaces and inheritance makes it extendable. It was built on the agile methodology, which helps developers deliver high-quality applications to enterprise clients.
Why is PHP Still So Widely Used?
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is known as a general-purpose scripting language that can be used to develop dynamic and interactive websites. It was among the first server-side languages that could be embedded into HTML, making it easier to add functionality to web pages without needing to call external files for data. Its use has developed over the years, with regular upgrades.
PHP Development Agency Roles and Responsibilities
A PHP developer is responsible for writing server-side web application logic. PHP developers usually develop back-end components, connect the application with the other (often third-party) web services, and support the front-end developers by integrating their work with the application. They are also often required to develop and integrate plugins for certain popular frameworks.
Here is a list of roles professional PHP developers are entrusted with, by many enterprises:
- Create, test and deploy new, innovative website applications with professionalism
- Work with CSS, HTML, and JS
- Test websites on various devices and browsers
- Research and explore various architectural considerations
- Communicate and work with other team members to solve conflicts, establish priorities, select the best solutions
- Develop plans for keeping the website updated and current at all times
- Recommend improvements for performance
- Refactor the existing codebase to improve architecture
- Provide detailed technical specifications such as product features, budget, programming languages, communication protocols, functionalities, structure, and deadlines
- Keep up with the latest programming practices and web technologies
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