why use php for web development

 Open source: PHP is a server side open source language which means it is available for free. It can be used on different platforms such as UNIX, Linux & Windows and considered the suitable language to develop dynamic sites.

Dynamic language: PHP is used in close correlation with HTML for displaying dynamic data and other elements on a web page. The code available within the delimiters is parsed and all other information is ignored by PHP and sent directly to output.

Less use of resources: PHP and the related procedures do not require too much from system resources. The processes and functions load as well as execute quickly since PHP makes use of Apache modules developed in C coding language.

Dynamic CMS: Development using PHP has made management of content on a web site very simple as entire content on the web site is kept in a database server and fetched by developers as and when required.

1. Ease of use

As stated above, this language has proven to many, to be very easy to learn, very straight-forward. The language rules are not as strict as many common languages of now days, such as C++, Java etc. Any newcomer to the world of PHP will get the hang of this language very quickly on my opninion.

2. Integrates with HTML, CSS, javascript, ajax, jquery very well.

When speaking of web development, there is no need to create workarounds to be able to display an HTML page when using PHP. All you have to do is place the HTML, CSS, js, etc… within the file and you are good to go.

3. Well documented

Nothing is complete if it lacks documentation. This language contains their full manual online, and accessible to everyone in need of it. You need to learn something you have never done before? Just google it and you will definately find some crazy person that already went through the hassle for you, and is willing to help you out at the same time.

4. Great community

Our communities are huge! The people have supported this language from the very start. Versed in every aspect, you can see how people strive to get more out of this simple language (yet powerful). This being open source, has the advantage that everyone can take a glance at it. That being said, with more exposure, the more opportunity this has of growing. Believe me, this has grown since the beggining, and it will keep growing.

5. Updated regularly (security etc, solid platform).

Great technology needs to be updated constantly. The team at PHP.net have done a tremendous job in keeping their language up to date with all the bugs that have been found so far. Also, adding new features every once in a while to make our lives as programmers a bit much easier.

6. Database communication is excellent

PHP is known to have a variety of database support. It has enough flavors to satisfy most individual needs. Here I found a list of supported databases so far. I’m not sure how accurate it is, but its good enough.

http://phplens.com/adodb/supported.databases.html

7. Trend, a lot of people use it (widely used, for open source projects like WP, Joomla, PHPBB, etc.)

This language has become very trendy. A lot of web developers prefer using PHP. (Note: I said a lot prefer, not all.) If you decide to start a new career path using PHP, then you will most certainly have a place to go. The job market is stacking with PHP developer roles, and PHP leads, etc. This is an actual fact, due to the reports from craigslist, stating that the job growth for PHP web developer has increased within the past year. Also, there are a lot of open source projects like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal to mention a few, and companies are using these more and more each day.

8. Usability

One of the best things is that applications done within PHP are cross platform. They are indipendently ran on a server, and doesn’t matter what type of Operating system you are using, it is likely to run. In some cases you will just need to add a few conditions and manipulate the design a little bit, but having to create a new one from scratch, just because there is no compatibility, negatory!

9. Best of all, its free!

You definately can’t go wrong with FREE! You know the old saying, “If it’s free, it’s for me!”. Some people prefer to pay for some web server, that will cost thousands of dollars to maintain up to date. Not with PHP though, you can install a free operating system (linux, unix), that is also very well documented, and have PHP installed in it, configured, and maintainable for much lower cost than any other type of OS.

Some other features of PHP development include:

    Easy access to coding libraries
    Open source programming
    Availability of server interfaces
    Use of different databases such as Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc
    Similarity to Java and C
    Platform compatibility