An updated version, namely PHP 8.1, a sub-version of PHP8, was released on November 25, 2021.
Since PHP is widely used on the web, new improvements and updates are being made, constantly coming to PHP, as in the recent PHP 8 update, got a JIT compiler.
Is PHP Dead Language in 2022?
No, PHP is not a dead language. You can simplify PHP hosting with high performance. Anyone can download, develop and build websites without paying for PHP, which makes it easier for people to access them.
Another advantage of this popularity is that PHP development costs are lower than other languages. Modern PHP can be elegant, scalable, and efficient without much effort.
PHP has been the leading web development technology for the past two decades, being used to build millions of websites and applications around the world, and it shows little sign of slowing down. Despite its notoriety for being insecure in the 1990s and early 2000s, PHP managed to retain its title as the most used server-side language.
Usage statistics of PHP for websites:
As of January 2013, PHP was used on more than 240 million websites (39% of the total) and installed on 2.1 million web servers. (source:[https://www.networxsecurity.org/members-area/glossary/p/php.html]
As of March 2021, 79.1% of websites use PHP as the server-side programming language. [Source: https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/pl-php]
But when that number is still above 75%, it's hard to use that drop to declare PHP dead. In this post, you can read in detail and know that PHP isn't close to dying.
Calling PHP a dead language is somewhat premature. PHP is not completely dead, but it's not completely alive either, no matter what JavaScript is currently in the development ecosystem. Since WordPress is built on PHP, supported by almost every shared hosting provider, and still holds 61.5% of the web under its wing, PHP as a language doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
It's a pity that much of the outdated PHP code is tied to older versions of WordPress that site owners haven't updated. The fact that so many websites run on a version of PHP that has officially expired probably doesn't help PHP's reputation among developers.
PHP is great for making code "work", which means you can see a lot of bad code. Since it's easy to learn, there are many PHP developers available to hire, and also remember that there will be many bad developers. You can still find good jobs as a PHP developer, but be aware that the number of vacancies is high.
If you are in college - learning PHP might not be great because I think you may have learned other languages (or first language) and learning PHP at the top might not be for you. Don't waste time learning PHP, learn JavaScript or Python instead, and you'll be in a good position in terms of experience and salary level. But, one thing is sure, PHP is not dead and is suitable, in my opinion, only for the entry-level. All in all, you can't go wrong with choosing PHP for your future development needs.
PHP is a great language to learn if you are interested in freelance web development. Because it's easy to learn, anyone who is new to PHP can create simple web pages, so there are so many PHP developers out there that it becomes easy to become one. By connecting with an experienced PHP developer or web development company, you can create MVPs not only faster, but better.
PHP is very popular in the freelancer community because it is one of the easiest languages for non-technical people to manage the back-end of their website.
There are countless websites, forums, and discussion boards that provide great tutorials on how to develop applications using Python or PHP. Python is also well documented and has a very strong community of supporters, however, compared to PHP, there are far fewer frameworks that support rapid development.
Is PHP dead in the Future?
PHP used to be the king of web development, but now it's facing stiff competition.
This change, along with other changes in website development, might make you think about "is PHP dead or alive?".
It's important to note that there is a big difference between wishing the death of PHP and the actual death of PHP. And it is appropriate to check whether the reasons put forward by people who claim that PHP.
Over the years, PHP's popularity among developers has gradually declined, replaced by cutting-edge technologies such as Rust, Python, and JavaScript. On the other hand, the most commonly used PHP-based web frameworks are Codeigniter, Zend, Laravel, Symfony, etc.
Both Python and PHP outperform other paid web frameworks here. This is because while PHP is mostly used for web development, Python is more of a general-purpose programming language.
Developers choose many other programming languages such as JavaScript, HTML/CSS, SQL, Java, C#, C++, Ruby, Swift, and PHP for web development.
As you know, PHP is not the only language used to build websites, although PHP is probably the most flexible of them all. In addition, PHP can be used for many programming tasks outside of the web context, such as standalone graphical applications and robotic drone control. The PHP framework makes it faster and easier for a developer to build web applications by providing libraries that perform common tasks and functions, which means less code needs to be written.
If you are finding a job in a web development area, looking for good career opportunities in PHP, Or Want to develop a beautiful website for your business, Let's Talk.
Latest comments (6)
There is an extremely sophisticated tool, to help people understand the vital statistics of PHP without having to really think; isphpdead.io
PHP has been at the forefront of web development for more than 20 years. It is anticipated that PHP will endure and experience ongoing advancements. Although fewer individuals are selecting PHP to create new projects, PHP is still essential to a large number of projects that already exist. PHP is still actively used today.
PHP has been a popular programming language for web development for decades, powering millions of websites and web applications. It has a large and active developer community, and many established frameworks and content management systems such as WordPress, Drupal, and Laravel are based on PHP.
While new languages such as Python and JavaScript have grown in popularity in recent years, PHP continues to evolve and improve. PHP 8 was released in November 2020 with significant performance improvements and new features added to the language. Keep in mind that technology trends can change over time, and so can the popularity of programming languages. However, since the last update, PHP continues to be widely used and supported, and there is still a demand for PHP developers in the industry.
In my experience, PHP is a clone of Doctor Who. It's never die, just regenerate.
Nice article. I had the same discussion some weeks ago with a client.
Personally, PHP was my start into web development over 20 years ago. Its simple structure and useful inbuilt functions are perfect for starting with web development. And rightly so it used in the majority of web applications nowadays. That's why I think PHP will be around for next 10 or 20 years for sure. Maybe it will be the Cobol web development ;-)
Nevertheless, the growth of PHP in the future will decrease. And more and more people will switch to / or start with alternatives like node.js or ASP.NET.
I really love PHP, 15 years back I learned PHP and dot net from a Institution. But I choose PHP for job, and fast forwarding 15 years, PHP is still one of the coolest language!