PHP Introduction

PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML.

What is PHP?

• PHP is an open-source server-side scripting language.
• PHP scripts are executed on the server, and plain HTML is returned to the client browser.
• PHP powers major platforms including WordPress, Wikipedia, and Laravel.
• Modern PHP (8.4+) is extremely fast, type-safe, and feature-rich with JIT compilation, constructor property promotion, enums, and match expressions.

Why Learn PHP in 2026?

1. Powering the Web: PHP runs over 75% of websites with known server-side programming languages.
2. Thriving Ecosystem: Frameworks like Laravel and Symfony offer modern, elegant tooling.
3. High Performance: With PHP 8.4 and OPcache/JIT, performance rivals Node.js and Python.
4. Huge Job Market: Massive demand for full-stack and backend PHP developers worldwide.

Your First PHP Script

A PHP script starts with <?php and ends with ?>:

<?php
echo "Hello, World! Welcome to E-Tutorial!";
?>

Output

Hello, World! Welcome to E-Tutorial!

How PHP Works

When a user requests a .php file from a server:

1. The web server (Apache/Nginx) passes the file to the PHP engine.
2. PHP executes the script, queries databases if needed, and computes output.
3. The generated HTML output is delivered back to the client browser.