What is PHP and why do most websites use it?
As a business owner, you may not get involved too much with your website. You are an entrepreneur, you have bigger concerns of running a company, filing tax returns, managing employees.
However, you have a business website. You get numerous enquiries online. Sitting in meetings about building or maintaining your websites you have heard the acronym, PHP. You ask yourself, ‘what is PHP?’
We answer this question for you. We also tell you why PHP is especially important for websites and why it would be useful for your business to use PHP development services when you build or rebuild your website.
So, what is PHP and why do most websites use it? Find out more below.
What is PHP?
PHP is one of the most important programming languages online. PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. This probably means nothing to most people, but it is a programming language used for apps, but it is more commonly found on websites. Its ability to be embedded into HTML, another important coding language for websites, makes PHP invaluable to developers.
Most businesses want a website that draws in customers. PHP is a big part of making an average looking website look fantastic.
Why do most websites use it?
According to w3techs, almost 80% of websites use PHP. But why?
The main reason would be that PHP was developed to be used on websites. It is a relatively simple programming language to pick up for beginners and in the hands of an advanced developer, the opportunities for development are extensive.
PHP also signals where it is being used clearly. The code is embedded in the start and end processing instructions that allow you to jump in and out of ‘PHP mode’. Therefore, PHP is very important on WordPress sites.
WordPress software extensively uses PHP to create dynamic and interactive websites. As a WordPress user, you would not know that PHP is working in the background and will get by with knowing a bit of HTML.
Should you use professional PHP developers?
The short answer is yes. As with many things, using professional services is a good way to get things done correctly. The same is true with developing websites.
To the untrained coder, PHP can be complicated to get right. Mistakes can lead to catastrophe (from a website standpoint). No business owner wants to spend a lot of time and money attempting to make a website for it not to work, and not to know how to fix it.
With enough time and investment professional PHP developers will be able to give you a website that you will be proud of.
The added benefit of using PHP to develop your website is that it is open source. An open source programme means that there are no licencing costs to using that software, so you would only invest in the development of your site.
Conclusion
Now you know what PHP is and why it matters to your website. The biggest drawback to using PHP is also its biggest strength. It is widely used and in the hands of an overconfident novice can lead to severe consequences. Therefore, using professional services should be at the top of your web build wish list.
