PHP is one of the most widely used languages on the internet, offering security, ease of learning and use, and rapid development capabilities for websites. WordPress has undoubtedly played a significant role in its popularity. PHP is cross-platform, easy to set up as a development environment, and has an abundance of resources available, making it a favorite among many developers.
However, it is also heavily criticized by many developers who do not work with PHP. Every year, articles proclaiming "PHP is dead" seem to surface, yet PHP continues to persist and evolve.
So, why is PHP disliked by some in the developer community?
In my personal opinion, the root of the issue lies with the PHP community itself. PHP is inherently easy to learn, which means it is used by both trained and untrained developers. In truth, it’s not the language that is being criticized but the developers using it and their methods. Many developers who are unfamiliar with proper software development principles can quickly start building applications or websites with PHP. Furthermore, some individuals who have a superficial understanding of PHP and lack foundational knowledge of software development principles create tutorial series on platforms like YouTube. They provide “education” to a similarly inexperienced audience, resulting in an internet landfill of low-quality resources.
Everyone agrees that PHP's long-standing problem has been the lack of standards, its propensity for slapdash coding, and a community largely uninterested in adhering to best practices. The cliché "My cousin makes websites too," often references someone using PHP. Consequently, the sheer volume of poor-quality projects has far outstripped the quality ones, giving rise to the perception of PHP as a subpar language.
In reality, PHP has made significant strides since version 5.6, especially with version 7, which improved its OOP (Object-Oriented Programming) support. Frameworks like Laravel have helped establish long-missing standards. Laravel, in particular, brought a breath of fresh air to the PHP ecosystem, introducing long-needed structure. Despite these advancements, two major obstacles persist:
Many developers continue to write chaotic PHP code, and this trend is hard to stop.
A significant portion of PHP developers remain unaware of software development principles and continue coding as they were taught by previous generations.
Perhaps the team behind PHP could enforce mandatory rules in new versions, compelling developers to write proper code and allowing the ecosystem to mature over time. However, they refrain from doing so, likely to avoid alienating their existing developer base. History provides an instructive example: the programming language Visual Basic. At its peak, Visual Basic had over 10 million licensed users worldwide (not counting unlicensed ones). When Microsoft transitioned Visual Basic to VB.NET after Visual Studio 6, the changes forced developers to adhere to stricter rules. Many VB6 developers, accustomed to unstructured coding, abandoned the language for alternatives like C#, leading to Visual Basic's decline. A similar radical shift could be dangerous for PHP.
Yet, in capable hands, PHP is an excellent programming language. Even Facebook’s early versions and older versions of Bitrix24 were built with PHP. I’ve personally been part of outstanding teams that delivered successful projects using PHP.
There are promising developments on the horizon. Laravel has injected new life into the ecosystem, and newer developers are adapting well to its standards. Even some of the “old guard” are gradually shifting toward proper coding practices. There’s hope that PHP’s reputation will improve over time—though solving the application server issue would certainly help.
In closing, “Long live PHP!”
