Overview of PHP
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open-source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. Here are some key points about PHP:
History
- 1994: Rasmus Lerdorf initially created PHP as a set of Perl scripts to track visits to his online resume.
- 1995: The first version of PHP was released under the name PHP/FI (Personal Home Page/Forms Interpreter).
- 1997: PHP 3.0 was released, which was rewritten from scratch by Zeev Suraski and Andi Gutmans, introducing the Zend Engine.
- 2000: PHP 4.0 was released with Zend Engine 1, enhancing performance and introducing session support.
- 2004: PHP 5.0 came with Zend Engine 2, adding object-oriented programming features.
- 2014: PHP 5.6 was the last release of the PHP 5 series.
- 2015: PHP 7.0 was introduced with significant performance improvements, new language features, and a new version of Zend Engine (Zend Engine 3).
- Current: Development continues with new versions focusing on performance, security, and language enhancements.
Features
- Server-Side Scripting: PHP is executed on the server, generating HTML to send to the client's web browser.
- Embedded within HTML: PHP code can be placed directly into HTML files, allowing for dynamic content generation.
- Database Integration: It supports a wide range of databases including MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and others.
- Object-Oriented Programming: PHP 5 and later versions have robust support for object-oriented programming.
- Extensibility: Through the use of extensions, PHP can interface with various external libraries and APIs.
- Security: Includes features like magic quotes, register globals, and various security functions to handle common security issues.
Usage
PHP is commonly used for:
- Web application development.
- Content Management Systems like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.
- Server-side scripting for dynamic page generation.
- Command-line scripting.
Resources
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