# PHP

> A language that runs on the server and builds web pages before they reach you.

- Level: Basic
- Topics: Software
- URL: https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/php/
- In Spanish: [PHP](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/es/php/)

**PHP** is a programming language made for the web. Rasmus Lerdorf created it in 1994 as a few tools for his personal home page, which is where the name first came from; today it officially stands for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor". It runs on the server, not in your browser.

Here is what it does. When you open a page on a PHP site, the web server runs the PHP code for that page: it might check whether you are logged in, fetch the latest posts from a database and then put together the HTML. Your browser only receives the finished page and never sees the PHP.

Programmers love to make fun of PHP, but it quietly powers a huge part of the web. WordPress, the system behind a large share of the world's websites, is written in PHP, and so is the software that runs Wikipedia. Modern PHP, with frameworks like Laravel and Symfony, is a very different language from the messy scripts of the early 2000s.

## An analogy

A cook behind the counter. You order a dish (a page), the cook takes ingredients from the fridge (the database) and hands you a finished plate. You never see the recipe.

## Keep in mind

- PHP runs on the server and sends finished HTML to the browser.
- WordPress and the software behind Wikipedia are written in PHP.
- Almost every cheap shared hosting plan supports it.
- Laravel and Symfony are popular modern PHP frameworks.

## Go deeper

- [What is PHP? (official manual)](https://www.php.net/manual/en/introduction.php)
- [PHP (MDN glossary)](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/PHP)
- [PHP (official site)](https://www.php.net/)

## Related terms

- [Programming language](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/programming-language/): A precise, written language people use to give instructions to a computer.
- [Server](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/server/): A computer whose job is to answer requests from other computers, all day, every day.
- [Web browser](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/web-browser/): The app that fetches web pages from the internet and draws them on your screen.
- [Database](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/database/): An organized store of data that programs can search and update safely.
- [HTML](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/html/): The text format that describes what is on a web page: headings, paragraphs, links.
- [CMS](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/cms/): Software that lets people publish and edit a website's content without writing code.
- [Website](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/website/): A set of web pages under one address, stored on a server and opened in a browser.
- [Framework](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/framework/): A ready-made skeleton for an app: it sets the structure and calls your code.