PHP is easily one of the most popular programming languages in the world. This language is well-known for making server-side scripting easy and effective. There are many ways to go and a quality PHP web developer can give you a very high-performance website.

Now, there are many things about PHP that even expert web developers do not know. And while you don’t need to know them to get a super website developed, it does help. If you know these things about PHP then you can make the right choice. This also applies if you are a developer. If you want to learn PHP, knowing these small but significant facts are going to help you decide more ably. Let’s start:

7 Neat PHP Facts Which Everyone Should Know

PHP Powers 244+ Million Websites

As per a 2013 online census, there are over 244+ million websites using PHP. This makes it an immensely popular programming language. The fact that PHP is open source makes it ideal for development. There are many other benefits in its corner like security, coding ease and easy scaling which make it ideal for rapid project development. If you are looking for the top PHP developer, then make sure you know their work portfolio before selecting.

Over 5 Million PHP Developers Worldwide

PHP is such a popular language because it has so many experts’ developers in the world. By recent estimates, over 5 million people in the world know PHP. So, if you want a PHP website, you can find a developer relatively easily. However, not every developer will have the skills and knowledge to produce a quality website. So, you need to carefully consider the skill set of any PHP developer you want to hire before making the final decision.

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PHP 7 Was Nicknamed PHP Next Gen

Recently, PHP received an upgrade so it can to match current gen needs. This version is called PHP 7 and the main addition is refactoring. This newer version performs better than previous ones and is nicknamed PHP Next Gen. the most high-performing PHP websites are based on the PHP 7. Make sure you know the proficiency of a web developer in PHP 7 before you hire them. Using the latest version ensures maximum stability and scalability. Overall, it’s just better and you should go for this version.

PHP Is Open-Source But Not Available Under General Public License

PHP’s open source status is a primary major reason for its popularity. Many developers find it easy to learn the language and use it as well. Companies also don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a good website. However, there is a very fine line between free to use and available under a general public license. The difference lies in the use of the PHP name itself. As per the laws, you can use PHP to develop your website or even app without any legal liability. But you cannot include the name PHP in the name of the service itself without the PHP dev team’s explicit permission. This is important to remember when using PHP.

PHP Wasn’t Intended As a Programming Language

One of the more amazing facts about PHP is that it was never intended as a programming language. The creator, Rasmus Lerdorf, developed the now world-famous programming language in 1994 solely for his website. In fact, there was no programming language back then either. Lerdorf only had a coded interface design which later developed into PHP. Now, that is an interesting and somewhat lesser-known fact about this language. Even some devs who use PHP professionally don’t know it.

PHP Was Originally An Abbreviation for Personal Home Page

Consistent with what we mentioned above of the origins of PHP, the abbreviation was something else entirely. At present, PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor which is a recursive abbreviation. Before this, it was named Personal Home Page. While that is certainly a fitting name for the interface Lerdorf created, it doesn’t fit what PHP is now. This little info on PHP’s development through the years can help improve your appreciation of how languages evolve over time.

PHP Has Its Own Mascot

Now, this one is completely unexpected. And even though it does not impact the language in any way, you get to know its popularity by this fact. We can’t think of any programming languages which have their own mascot other than Java and PHP. Only sports teams have their own mascots and that too at the pro level. Well, the PHP mascot is a big blue elephant who’s been aptly named elePHPant.

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Where Can You Get the Best PHP Developers?

6ixwebsoft is one of the best and most popular PHP developer companies. We offer many PHP website development verticals which combine performance, security, and price in a perfect package. Get the very best PHP web development services in the market from us today. Contact us now!