PHP is one of the oldest programming languages. It was designed for functions such as command-line scripting and writing desktop applications. It has established itself as one of the most reliable server-side scripting languages.
Companies such as Facebook, Spotify, and Slack have all been known to use the PHP language in one way or another. This article covers everything you need to know about PHP, including who uses PHP, what it’s used for, and where to find positions that require PHP skills.
What Is PHP?
PHP, short for Hypertext Processor, is an open source programming language designed to make web development easier. More specifically, PHP development is used to script interactive and dynamic websites. Scripting refers to techniques used for adding dynamic capabilities to web pages. These factors make PHP one of the best and most popular languages for web development.
Professionals who use PHP are known as PHP developers. These professionals are essentially software developers who specialize in using PHP technologies. One of the main reasons PHP is common among web developers is that you don’t need complicated commands to build dynamic web applications or interactive websites.
How Popular Is PHP?
Although PHP code is not as popular as other languages such as Python and JavaScript, it still has its place in modern web development. The long list of companies that use PHP includes top companies such as Wikipedia, Instagram, and Zoom. Below are some quick facts about PHP that you should know.
- PHP is one of the most widely used languages. According to a report by W3, over 78.9% of websites with a server-side language use PHP.
- PHP ranks 12th in TIOBE’s popularity index. PHP once ranked third in this company’s rankings back in 2001. However, it has fallen nine positions on the pecking order since then.
- Worldwide, 21.98% of developers use PHP. According to Statista, falls just under C++ on the list of the most used programming languages among developers.
What Is PHP Used For?
PHP is commonly used for web development. It generates web pages that are highly dynamic and can be updated easily. Besides that, PHP can seamlessly perform the following functions.
Writing Desktop Applications
You can create web-based desktop applications using different programming languages such as JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and PHP. PHP Desktop is an open source project designed to develop native desktop GUI applications using technologies such as HTML.
With this project, you can easily convert an existing website into a desktop application without making any modifications. It doesn’t need installation as it is an all-in-one portable set of local servers.
Server-Side Scripting
This is perhaps the most traditional and popular use of this language. Server-side scripting refers to a method of designing websites so that the user request or process runs on the original server. Server-side scripting can be written in a number of programming languages such as Python, PHP, Ruby, JavaScript, and Ruby.
The server-side code has full access to the operating system used in the server, meaning a developer can choose which language they wish to use. Server-side programming is very useful as it allows developers to deliver information that is customized for each individual, creating a much better user experience.
Create and Edit Images
As developers work on websites, they sometimes have to deal with images. Images can be tricky as developers encounter all sorts of issues, including resizing images, creating thumbnails, crossing images, and adding watermarks. However, you can create, edit or manipulate images using PHP. You can also render text and basic shapes on images in PHP which is useful in custom development.
List of PHP Companies: Overview
| Companies That Use PHP | Who Uses PHP at This Company? | What Does This Company Use PHP For? | Estimated Number of Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Century 21 | Backend developer, PHP developer, web developer | Server-side scripting | 3,000 |
| Network engineer, PHP developer, software engineer |
Create and edit images, writing desktop applications | 58,604 | |
| ScienceSoft | PHP developer, web developer, principal engineer | Server-side scripting | 700 |
| Skillshare | Staff backend engineer, senior security engineer, PHP developer | Server-side scripting | 546 |
| Slack | Software engineer, machine learning engineer, | Server-side scripting | 2,730 |
| Spotify | Web developer, senior software engineer | Writing desktop applications | 5,574 |
| Trivago | Senior developer, software engineer | Server-side scripting | 1,247 |
| Tumblr | Site reliability engineer, senior software engineer | Server-side scripting, writing desktop applications | 1001 to 5000 |
| Upwork | Principal engineer, software engineer, web developer | Server-side scripting | 540 |
| WordPress | Software engineer, backend engineer | Server-side scripting | 878 |
List of Companies That Use PHP, Expanded
PHP has many advantages that make it a suitable scripting language for many companies and websites. For instance, it is open source, platform-independent, easy to learn, and requires little in the way of maintenance. Version 7 is the latest PHP version and is now being used by many PHP-based websites, though some PHP users still use previous versions as well. Here are some of the big companies that have PHP websites today.
Century 21
Century 21 is a real estate firm that consists of about 14,000 independently run broker offices across the world. This real estate brokerage firm has a web-based platform that uses PHP and Java as its leading backed programming languages. However, they also use Bootstrap and jQuery UI to enhance front end elements.
Average Salaries for Century21 Employees Who Use PHP
Facebook is one of the most visited websites on the Internet. For this reason, it uses several programming languages for its different services. In this case, it uses PHP for front end web services. It uses their own version of PHP called HipHop Virtual Machine (HHVM). However, this company does not rely on PHP for its core system operations as it uses C++ and D languages.
Average Salaries for Facebook Employees Who Use PHP
ScienceSoft
ScienceSoft is a software company that specializes in offering businesses solutions that solve their complex digital problems. They use PHP for various reasons including audio equipment shopping, movie theater ticket booking, advertising displays, and management of central databases.
Average Salaries for ScienceSoft Employees Who Use PHP
Skillshare
Skillshare is an online learning platform that features a ton of videos designed for those who prefer visual learning. This site has a web-based learning system and a mobile application. It uses PHP for its web-based system to ensure responsiveness and dynamic web pages.
Average Salaries for Skillshare Employees Who Use PHP
Slack
Slack is a communication tool designed for businesses and workforces. It’s essentially a chat room meant to facilitate communication for companies and work teams. Slack uses PHP for its server-side application logic.
Average Salaries for Slack Employees Who Use PHP
Spotify
Spotify is a digital streaming service that gives its customers access to a vast library of songs from content creators across the world. Spotify uses Web API PHP to aid in creating information about artists, podcasts, tracks, and albums.
Average Salaries for Spotify Employees Who Use PHP
Trivago
Trivago is a hotel search service that allows users to compare variables such as price to get the best booking plans. This company uses the latest and most stable version of PHP to work on business-critical administration applications. It also uses this language to help advertisers communicate easier.
Average Salaries for Trivago Employees Who Use PHP
Tumblr
Tumblr is a blogging and social media platform that connects people with the same interests worldwide. This free blogging platform offers templates, mobile apps, social networking tools, and photos. Developers on this platform use the latest version of PHP as the main server-side language.
Average Salaries for Tumblr Employees Who Use PHP
Upwork
Upwork is one of the world’s largest freelancing platforms. This marketplace connects clients with projects to freelancers with matching skills. Because this platform is web-based, developers use PHP as its main server-side language.
Average Salaries for Upwork Employees Who Use PHP
WordPress
WordPress is a content management system that allows people to easily build a free website or blog. Since WordPress is a web-based service, it uses PHP to get information from the database and direct it into an HTML web page.
Average Salary for WordPress Employees Who Use PHP
- Software Developer| $67,837
PHP Bootcamps: Who Uses PHP to Teach Students How to Code?
Coding bootcamps teach students programming languages to help them start careers in tech. They are a great alternative to college education as these programs take a few months to complete and are significantly cheaper than courses from universities and colleges.
- 4Geeks Academy. 4Geeks Academy is a coding school that features courses in full stack development and machine learning, among others. You can become a PHP developer in less than 14 weeks while learning other essential programming languages.
- Bottega University. Bottega University is known for offering full-time and part-time courses in full stack development. With this school’s full-time program, you can become a full stack developer in 14 weeks.
- Coding Dojo. Coding Dojo is a leading coding bootcamp that offers courses in data science, cyber security, data analytics, web development, engineering immersion, and full stack development. You can study online or in-person through Coding Dojo’s various campuses across the United States.
Which Real-World PHP Use Case Is Right for Me?
You should learn PHP if you aspire to become part of a web development team. It’s a highly productive language used in the web development field. Besides, it’s easy to learn and use. Other advantages of this language are that it offers a massive ecosystem with community support, a debug extension that provides debugging features, and automation tools for testing and deploying web-based applications.
It will take you some time before you become a professional PHP developer, but once you do you’ll increase your chances of earning a reasonably high salary. Join a coding bootcamp today and become a professional PHP developer in a short time!
Uses of PHP FAQ
Normal PHP functions are focused on the web development process using a technique called server-side scripting. However, this language is capable of much more. Companies have been known to use PHP for website audio equipment shopping, movie theater ticket booking, advertising displays, and management of central databases.
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PHP is a versatile, open source server language that is easy to use. It can connect to a database, and requires little in the way of maintenance. PHP is also reasonably fast and has a great online community that provides support.
Yes, PHP can be used for web-based applications. It is an open source scripting language that developers use to create web-based applications of any kind. Top websites such as WordPress, Facebook, and Spotify all use PHP.
PHP is a programming language typically meant for server-side or backend development. Other languages such as JavaScript are best suited for front end development. So, if you want to develop the front end of your website, you should consider other languages such as JavaScript over PHP. However, some companies do use this language in front end development.
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