Is PHP Dead in 2021?

This is not the first post discussing whether PHP is dead or not? There has been speculation and discussions that PHP is dead for a decade now.  

PHP is older than the recent languages like React, Python and Ruby but still, it dominates the website development zone by a larger margin. 

Since its inception in 1995, PHP has been a popular server-side web development language. Fast forward 26 years, it still runs giant websites like Wikipedia, Facebook and CMSs like WordPress, Drupal, Magento and Joomla. 

Now, these days you have heard of the new Gutenberg editor in WordPress which introduced block-based editing. These Gutenberg blocks are coded using Javascript not PHP. 

This change along with the arrival of new languages might have left people thinking that whether PHP is heading for the burial ground? 

So is it? Should businesses start packing up their PHP based software? 

In this article, we will discuss how relevant PHP is, even today and still persists using solid statistics because there is a difference between thinking PHP is dead and PHP actually being dead. 

Usage Statistics 

Let's look at the data first. 

As per W3Tech’s data, 78.9% of all websites are using PHP as a server-side programming language. That is 8 out of 10 websites on the internet are built using PHP. 

Some might argue that this number is declining, which is true. But we need not believe it literally. 

Most hosting providers for websites remove the HTTP header from broadcasting due to security reasons. Thus the percentage of websites running on the PHP cloud might be higher. 

This means even if PHP is not the latest programming language it still is the most preferred one. 

Plus with a percentage usage of more than 75, it is in no way justified to declare PHP as a dead language. 

Such high statistics are in favor of PHP because the most popular content management system, WordPress is built using PHP. And WordPress powers 35% of all websites on the internet. That itself is a lot of websites using PHP. 

Fastest growing server-side language 

Currently, we’re on the latest version of PHP - PHP 8 which was released on November 26, 2020. With the latest version, PHP is faster than ever. Along with the JIT compiler, the new version brings some cool features for developers including:

• Constructor Property Promotion

• Named Arguments

• Validation for Abstract Trait Methods

• Incompatible Method Signatures

• Arrays Starting With a Negative Index

• Union Types 2.0

• Nullsafe Operator

• Consistent Type Errors for Internal Functions

• Throw Expression

• Weak Maps

• Trailing Comma in Parameter List

• Allow::class syntax on objects

Many people are not using the latest version and hence are not aware of the reliability and efficiency of PHP. 

As per WordPress, around 64% of websites are using PHP 7.1 or lower. The older versions of PHP including 7.1 no longer have security support since 2019. 

Businesses not using the latest version of PHP does not advocate for the fact that it still runs a major portion of websites. 

Data never lies. And based on the above statistics it is evident that:

• PHP is still the most popular server-side programming language 

• PHP is used for many websites but with lower traffic and other sites with high traffic are built using Javascript, Python, Ruby or other modern languages. 

• PHP is more actively used to create content management systems.

• The growth rate of PHP is declining but it still has a long life before it will be pronounced dead. 

Why is PHP still so popular? 

1. Simplicity 

Writing PHP programming code is like writing an article in English for the web. Although the language is bits and bytes, it is compatible with any system. Programmers can write a thorough script in PHP easily compared to other languages. 

2. Easy to update 

PHP is easy and safe to update, as it is a server-side programming language. It is not updated from the client-side, it is done from the server-side hence no security concerns. The updates will not be affected by browser settings. Also, the latest versions of PHP are regularly updated to enhance security. 

3. Inbuilt Database Support 

PHP has integrated support from major databases like My SQL, MariaDB, MongoDB and others. This makes the development process faster because there is no need to install drivers to start using databases. 

4. Libraries 

PHP is used for over 75% of websites from blogging pages, eCommerce stores, shopping carts, and CMSs. There are extensive libraries available to manage any functionality related to such programming issues. 

These libraries are the major reason behind the survival of PHP. They offer a standard library of interfaces to developers for seamless object-oriented programming. Libraries are a great support to handle errors and debug codes. Zend, CodeIgniter, Symfony are among the most popular PHP libraries. Some of the top features of abundant PHP libraries are:

• Simple and user-friendly API.

• Quick and fuss-free integration.

• Support for multiple caching methods.

• Ready-to-use functions for web services.

5. Extensive Documentation

PHP developers are readily available all over the world as it is easy to learn. The comprehensive documentation support makes PHP the first choice of developers. The most documented elements include classes, file headers, hooks, functions and inline comments. 

The PHP community is also very supportive of both beginners and experts both. There are numerous blogs, niche forums, subreddits and quora questions available to learn PHP and develop web applications effortlessly. Anytime a PHP developer encounters a bump, the online community assists swiftly. 

Conclusion

It is just a fad that PHP is dead. It is true that new and better-performing languages are available but concluding that PHP is dead is absurd. Millions of websites including Wikipedia, Facebook and WordPress still run on PHP. Eventually, it will be replaced but there are still 7-10 years before that time arrives. 

PHP is widely used and a popular programming language, it’ll not disappear easily. If you are looking to build a PHP based web development project, it is the right time. 

Contact a leading offshore PHP development company to get a feature-rich web application in your budget.