Editing PHP (section)

{{Short description|Scripting language created in 1994}}
{{About|the scripting language}}
{{Infobox programming language
| logo = PHP-logo.svg
| logo size = 200px
| file ext = {{codes|.php|.phar|.phtml|.pht|.phps|d=,}}
| paradigm = [[Multi-paradigm programming language|Multi-paradigm]]: [[imperative programming|imperative]], [[functional programming|functional]], [[object-oriented programming|object-oriented]], [[procedural programming|procedural]], [[reflective programming|reflective]]
| released = {{start date and age|1995|06|08|df=y}}<ref name="Lerdorf-1995" /><ref name="Lerdorf-2007">{{cite web | last=Lerdorf | first=Rasmus | title=PHP on Hormones&nbsp;– history of PHP presentation by Rasmus Lerdorf given at the MySQL Conference in Santa Clara, California | date=2007-04-26 | publisher=The Conversations Network | url=http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3298.html | archive-date=2013-07-29 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729204354id_/http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3298.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>
| designer = [[Rasmus Lerdorf]]
| developer = {{URL|https://php.net/credits/|The PHP Development Team}}, [[Zend Technologies]], {{URL|https://thephp.foundation/|PHP Foundation}}
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|reference|P348}}
| latest release date    = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|P348|P577}}}}
| typing = [[Dynamic typing|Dynamic]], [[strong and weak typing|weak]], [[gradual typing|gradual]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://secure.php.net/manual/en/functions.arguments.php#functions.arguments.type-declaration.strict|title=PHP: Function arguments – Manual|website=secure.php.net}}</ref>
| implementations = [[Zend Engine]], [[HHVM]], [[PeachPie]], [[Quercus (software)|Quercus]], [[Parrot virtual machine|Parrot]]
| dialects = 
| influenced by = [[Perl]], [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]], [[Java (programming language)|Java]],<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.php.net/manual/en/preface.php | title = PHP: Preface – Manual}}</ref> [[Tcl]],<ref name="Lerdorf-2007" /> [[JavaScript]]<ref name="Stogov-2015">{{Cite tweet |user=dstogov |number=672864802474229760 |last=Stogov |first=Dmitry |date = 2015-12-04 |title=It's not a secret that some #PHP7 optimization ideas came from HHVM, LuaJIT and V8. Thank you @HipHopVM @SaraMG. #php7thankyou}}</ref>
| influenced = [[Hack (programming language)|Hack]], [[Jakarta Server Pages|JSP]], [[Active Server Pages|ASP]], [[React (JavaScript library)|React JS]]
| programming language = [[C (programming language)|C]] (primarily; some components [[C++]])
| operating system = [[Unix-like]], [[Windows]], [[macOS]], [[IBM i]], [[OpenVMS]], [[IBM Z]]
| license = [[PHP License]] (most of Zend engine under [[Zend Engine License]]) for PHP&nbsp;4 and later versions (only; dual-licensed [[GNU General Public License]] version 2 or any later version and PHP License for PHP versions 3.0 or earlier.<ref>{{cite web |title=PHP: Release Archives (museum) |url=https://museum.php.net/php3/ |website=museum.php.net}}</ref>)
| website = {{url|https://www.php.net/|php.net}}
| wikibooks = PHP Programming
}}'''PHP''' is a [[general-purpose programming language|general-purpose]] [[scripting language]] geared towards [[web development]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.php.net/|title=PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor|website=www.php.net|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref> It was originally created by [[Danish Canadians|Danish-Canadian]] [[programmer]] [[Rasmus Lerdorf]] in 1993 and released in 1995.<ref name="Krill-2013">{{Cite web |last=Krill |first=Paul |date=2013-11-18 |title=Believe the hype: PHP founder backs Facebook's HipHop technology |url=https://www.infoworld.com/article/2609877/believe-the-hype--php-founder-backs-facebook-s-hiphop-technology.html |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=InfoWorld |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Announce: Personal Home Page Tools (PHP Tools) |url=https://groups.google.com/g/comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi/c/PyJ25gZ6z7A/m/M9FkTUVDfcwJ?pli=1 |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=groups.google.com}}</ref> The PHP [[reference implementation]] is now produced by the PHP Group.<ref name="The PHP Group">{{cite web|access-date=2008-02-25|url=https://www.php.net/history|title=History of PHP and related projects |publisher=The PHP Group}}</ref> PHP was originally an abbreviation of '''''Personal Home Page''''',<ref name="php.net-3">{{cite web |title=History of PHP |url=https://php.net/manual/en/history.php.php |website=php.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Olsson |first=Mikael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ahBAAAAQBAJ |title=PHP Quick Scripting Reference |date=2013-09-04 |publisher=Apress |isbn=978-1-4302-6284-8 |language=en}}</ref> but it now stands for the [[recursive acronym]] '''''PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor'''''.<ref>[https://php.net/manual/en/preface.php PHP Manual: Preface], www.php.net.</ref>

PHP code is usually processed on a [[web server]] by a PHP [[interpreter (computing)|interpreter]] implemented as a [[plugin (computing)|module]], a [[daemon (computing)|daemon]] or a [[Common Gateway Interface]] (CGI) executable. On a web server, the result of the [[interpreter (computing)|interpreted]] and executed PHP code{{em dash}}which may be any type of data, such as generated [[HTML]] or [[binary number|binary]] image data{{em dash}}would form the whole or part of an [[HTTP]] response. Various [[web template system]]s, web [[content management system]]s, and [[web framework]]s exist that can be employed to orchestrate or facilitate the generation of that response. Additionally, PHP can be used for many programming tasks outside the web context, such as standalone [[graphical user interface|graphical applications]]<ref>{{cite web | url = https://php.net/manual/en/intro-whatcando.php | work = PHP Manual | title = Introduction: What can PHP do? | access-date = 2009-03-05}}</ref> and [[unmanned aerial vehicle|drone]] control.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Helicopter: Port of node-ar-drone which allows user to control a Parrot AR Drone over PHP|date=2019-01-11|url=https://github.com/jolicode/php-ar-drone|publisher=JoliCode|access-date=2019-02-23}}</ref> PHP code can also be directly executed from the [[command-line interface|command line]].

The standard PHP interpreter, powered by the [[Zend Engine]], is [[free software]] released under the [[PHP License]]. PHP has been widely ported and can be deployed on most web servers on a variety of [[operating system]]s and [[computing platform|platforms]].<ref name="O'Reilly-2001" />

The PHP language has evolved without a written [[formal specification]] or standard<!-- until 2014 -->, with the original [[implementation]] acting as the ''[[de facto]]'' standard that other implementations aimed to follow. <!-- PHP standard spec dropped at GitHub, besides would have been on old EOLed version of PHP: Since 2014, work has gone on to create a formal PHP specification.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jackson|first1=Joab|title=PHP gets a formal specification, at last|url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2490649/php-gets-a-formal-specification--at-last.html|website=Computerworld|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|date=2014-07-31}}</ref> -->

W3Techs reports that {{as of|2024|10|27|lc=y}} (about two years since <!-- 28 November 2022 --> PHP&nbsp;7 was discontinued and 11 months after the PHP&nbsp;8.3 release), PHP&nbsp;7 is still used by 50.0% of PHP websites, which is outdated and known to be insecure.<ref name="www.php.net">{{Cite web|url=https://www.php.net/eol.php|title=PHP: Unsupported Branches|website=www.php.net}}</ref><ref name="W3Techs – World Wide Web Technology Surveys" /> In addition, 13.2% of PHP websites use the even more outdated (discontinued for 5+ years) and insecure PHP 5, and the no longer supported PHP 8.0 is also very popular, so the majority of PHP websites do not use supported versions.