Is the end of PHP near?

Source: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BtKDp_rIUAEra8l.png

“Is PHP dead?”

“Isn't PHP a dying language?”

These days, questions like the above ones have become a moot point among the worldwide web developers. Since 1995, PHP is dominating the web development industry. Globally popular websites like Facebook and Wikipedia are built on this server-side scripting language. Also, immensely popular Content Management Systems (CMSs) like Drupal, Magento, Joomla, and WordPress are built on PHP.

Now, we have been introduced to many advanced programming languages ​​like Python, MEAN Stack, Ruby, Lua, etc. So, is it finally time to say goodbye to the legendary PHP? That is what you are going to find in this blog post. Let's see what the stats and numbers are depicting.

Stats on PHP Usage

We took a look at what W3Techs is saying and this is what we found.

Source: W3Techs

As you can see in the graph, almost 78.9% of all sites with a known server-side programming language is using PHP web development services.

So, what do you think? Can a language be dead at all when 8 out of 10 websites are using it?

Yes, that is what we are trying to say that PHP IS NOT DEAD.

The graph below explains the market position of PHP in terms of traffic and popularity compared to the other popular server-side programming languages. 

Source: W3Techs

Now, if you take a look at the scenarios from 2 years back, almost 80.1% of sites were using PHP in 2017.In June 2018, this number dropped to 79.6% .So, this is an undeniable fact that the number of sites using PHP is declining. But it is too soon to make any statement like PHP is dying or the end of it is near.

But, PHP is too slow! -Is it true?

Well, yes, compared to the newly-introduced advanced programming languages, PHP is slow. But keep in mind that this statement is true only for the older versions of PHP. 

PHP 7 is remarkably fast. You will be amazed to know that this PHP 7 is 3 times faster than the advanced programming language Python. Also, this latest version is streamlined language with a strong OO focus. What else is reflecting PHP's aliveness?

You already saw what the market share and stats are saying. Now, here is a list of some other significant points that are reflecting PHP's aliveness.

* PHP-built sites can be updated easily updated. Being a server-side programming language, all its updates are done from the server-side. As the client-side is not involved at all, security is ensured here. Also, any update won 't impact the browser settings.

* It provides user-friendly and simple Application Programming Interface (API) that defines the classes, functions or methods and variables.

* PHP comes with thousands of stand-alone as well as packaged libraries, MVC / REST frameworks.

* PHP implements interfaces, facades, type hinting, traits, structured exceptions, generic containers, singletons, closures, iterators, namespaces, unit tests, packages (Composer, akin to npm), continuous integration.

* PHP runs on multiple CPU cores. Also, it can be used both as async and sync with an additional script.

* It displays error with syntax-highlighted which is an easy way to share source code details.

Most interestingly, PHP, the cheapest language available on every hosting provider comes with embedded security libraries.No wonder why PHP is the best fit for web development startups and small and medium-sized businesses.

Also, whenever you want to hire PHP web developer with a good grasp over PHP development tools, you will find plenty of options. This also proves that the demand for PHP is not gone at all. There, PHP is very much alive and doing great as well. 

Wrapping up

PHP has introduced a brand new version ie PHP 7. Maybe with this advanced version, we are going to explore more of the unseen possibilities so far. It is a great choice to devise APIs that play nice with the advanced front-end frameworks like Angular, Vue, and React.

Want to hire PHP developers for your next project? Get in touch with a trusted web development firm and state your requirements to the experts. They will provide you with the best team to handle your project requirements with topnotch PHP web development services.