One of the big reasons PHP is so popular is because it’s so ubiquitous. It’s installed almost everywhere. Hell, even you

A lot of the “we hate PHP and think it should die” crowd bring up a number of things that they think make PHP an all-round bad choice. Some of those things we’ve been hearing for years and are based on long distant versions of PHP (I don’t know why everyone is still so focused on PHP 4, I mean seriously?). Other things are simply baseless and untrue. This isn’t a “my language is better than your language” rant, and I honest believe that every programming language has a purpose. The people who brings these things into the world (who are all a lot clever than me) generally do so for good reason. Programming languages usually don’t happen by mistake.,I know PHP, but I also know how to set up an Nginx web server and how to configure FPM or opcache; I have enough knowledge to make smart choices about dependencies; I know how to securely deploy PHP applications in production and I’m aware of security problems that could be introduced if I’m not careful with how I use certain language features. These things are more than just “knowing” a language. As programmers we invest a large amount of time in learning these things that often sit outside of the languages we choose.,PHP is not WordPress. And, although WordPress is firmly cemented into PHP’s history book, PHP is better than WordPress – MUCH better. There’s a lot wrong with WordPress and there’s a lot wrong with PHP, but that doesn’t mean its a bad choice for every project. I probably wouldn’t be writing my web applications in C (or at least it would be WAY down the list of languages for those projects), but that doesn’t make C a bad language. It’s just not suited for that job in the same way that I wouldn’t be using PHP to write hardware drivers or anything to do with AI. it’s just way outside of its wheelhouse.,The biggest problem with professional writers is very few people like them. Their obsession with being professional isn’t understood by a reader, so people just switch off. The more readers switch off, the more they start to double down on how writing must be professional.,Then, I found WordPress. And like every other whippersnapper in front of a computer screen with some basic PHP knowledge, WordPress changed everything. This was cool, right?,It may sound simple at first, and you’ll likely think you won’t need a full day to do it, but you’re wrong if that’s what you think. I often find myself not having enough time to reflect on everything in a single day. When I do a Think Day in my physical journal, I often end up writing 30 pages of notes.,Well, it’s not wrong. PHP has giving me a career I am happy with. I live in a nice house and drive a great car because I spent 20 years getting really good at this one thing.,That’s why it’s really disappointing when another programmer, tells me my choice of language is “shit”. I’ve spent 20 odd years getting better at this bit of technology, but now this one person is telling me that my choice was wrong?,You installed WordPress… Then you added a plugin, and you changed the theme... Then you made a small change to the theme so it did something else, or looked a little different. Then you modified a plugin. Then you made your own theme. Then you thought to yourself… What else can I do?,I came to PHP like I believe most PHP programmers do. Because we wanted a way to make a website do more than display a picture and a paragraph of text. I was so excited when I figured how to get stuff out of a database and display it on a web page. It was mind blowing! This was exactly what I needed and I dove in head first.,I come from a design background, and although I’ve been tinkering with computers and code since I was like 7 years old, I didn’t follow that passion in education. I’m not even sure why. I like computers, and I like the internet, but instead… I chose graphic design. I’m not going to go into all that because, although I have a degree, it doesn’t really play much part in what I do today.,The answer is simple: because it was there. I’m self-taught, and I don’t have much in the way of formal training. Except maybe for the occasional online course I’ve taken, I have no piece of paper with a stamp on it from a prestigious university that says I can tell computers what to do.,And so I was introduced to PHP. I didn’t choose PHP, it chose me. 20 years later, and I’m still building things in PHP. Sure, not really with WordPress anymore, and I like to think I’ve matured as a PHP programmer to know how to write this post.,Choice of language also has a lot to do with what you know. As the old adage goes: time is money, and in most cases, taking on a new language for a project is a big undertaking that would put more strain on timeframes which are usually already tight. I know PHP fairly well so it’s often going to be my first choice. I know a little Python, but I’m way better with PHP. I could probably do the same things in Python, but it’s going to take me twice as long, (at least in the beginning). It doesn’t mean I won’t use Python at all, or that I have anything against Python, it just means that PHP is my go-to.,Learning a language isn’t actually that hard and an experienced programmer might be able to pick up the gist of a language in a weekend. But that doesn’t mean they know the language. Knowing a programming language isn’t just about knowing which built-in function does what, it’s about having enough experience to know WHEN to use what features, or how the ecosystem fits together.