PHP
You may be wondering that if PHP is used to build web pages, what is HTML there for? Well, HTML is the scripting language that is used in web development on the client-side, while PHP is loaded onto the browser after being executed on the server-side.
Having said that, PHP and HTML usually go hand in hand. How would that work? A script written in PHP can be loaded into HTML and helps in creating dynamic web pages. A great way to know whether the web page you are visiting was built on the server-side or the client-side is to look at the extension. The URL of PHP-built pages end with a “.php”.
PHP is a highly flexible scripting language that stands out for its ability to connect to a wide range of database software, including MySQL and Oracle. Although it does not have as much control over a web page as JavaScript (another webs page building language) does, yet it’s the dynamic nature of the language that makes it suitable for multiple applications.
Do you know what version of PHP is running on your website? Try to find out!
Being open-source, it is freely available for programmers to modify and build beautiful websites in minutes. This is one of the reasons it is a popular scripting language for building e-commerce platforms. Other applications of PHP include content management, blogs, forums, bulletin boards, and so on.
With PHP, developers also have the freedom to choose the platform on which the code will be run. This can be attributed to the language’s ability to run on all kinds of operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Unix, and Solaris.
You can also choose whatever web server you are comfortable with, as PHP runs on both IIS and Apache. With PHP’s high user-friendliness, dynamic web development becomes easy and flexible.
Which Version of PHP is the Most Current?
The current and recommended version is PHP 8.2. PHP 8.2 is a major update of the PHP language. It contains many new features, including read only classes, null, false, and true as stand-alone types, deprecated dynamic properties, performance improvements and more. Many applications like WordPress plugins were written for PHP 7.4. Updating to PHP 8.1 or 8.2 could cause older applications to fail.
In order for your WordPress website to function properly, your host must, at the very minimum, support PHP version 7.4. The official WordPress website recommends you run the highest available PHP version, but still, that could mean your current site may fail or some elements may need to be deactivated.
Sources:
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-php-used-for-uses-advantages.html