---
title: "PHP"
description: "PHP is a server-side scripting language powering most of the web, including WordPress. Learn how it works, its versions, frameworks and hosting."
url: "https://nodea.io/en/glossary/php"
lang: "en"
updated: "2026-07-13"
---

# PHP

> PHP is a server-side scripting language built for creating dynamic websites and web applications. It powers a huge share of the web today, including WordPress.

**PHP** (a recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a server-side scripting language created primarily for building dynamic websites and web applications. It emerged in the mid-1990s and remains one of the web's most popular languages, powering the majority of live websites.

## How PHP works

Unlike JavaScript, which runs in the browser, PHP code executes on the server. When a user requests a page, the web server hands the script to the PHP interpreter, which generates a finished [HTML](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/html) document — often pulling data from a database such as [MySQL](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/mysql) — and sends the result back to the browser. The browser never sees the PHP code itself, only the output it produces.

On modern servers, PHP most often runs in [PHP-FPM](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/php-fpm) mode, which manages a pool of processes that handle requests efficiently and in parallel. Successive versions of the language — from the PHP 5 branch through PHP 7 to the current PHP 8 releases — brought major performance gains, stronger typing and new syntax features.

## Practical application

PHP is the foundation of the most popular content management systems and e-commerce platforms: [WordPress](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/wordpress), Joomla, Drupal, PrestaShop and Magento are all written in it. For larger applications, developers reach for frameworks like [Laravel](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/laravel) or Symfony, which structure the code and speed up development.

PHP's popularity means practically every shared [hosting](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/hosting) plan ships it ready to use, usually with a version selector in the control panel. For performance and security, running a current, supported version of the language is essential — older releases no longer receive fixes and become an entry point for attacks.

### What is PHP used for?

PHP is used to build dynamic websites and web applications on the server side — generating HTML from data, handling forms, connecting to databases and running business logic. It underpins many CMS platforms and online stores such as WordPress, Joomla, PrestaShop and Magento.

### Which PHP version is best?

Always use the latest stable, still-supported version from the PHP 8 branch. Newer releases are faster, more secure and continue to receive security fixes. Running outdated, unsupported versions exposes a site to vulnerabilities and compatibility problems.

## Related

- [PHP-FPM](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/php-fpm)
- [WordPress](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/wordpress)
- [Laravel](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/laravel)
- [Hosting](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/hosting)
- [MySQL](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/mysql)

---

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