Meet 10 Practical Applications of PHP

Even in the tech world, there are old-timers like PHP. Today we will talk about him. We will look at 10 practical uses of this programming language. PHP is a general-purpose language. Nevertheless, this language is primarily used for developing web applications. It is a server-side language, meaning it runs on the server. Programs written in PHP receive data from site users, process it, interact with databases, and return the processed information to the site. PHP, which was originally created for server-side scripting, has already managed to become one of the most widely used programming languages by now.

Best Practical Applications of PHP

PHP Websites

The best example is Facebook, the server-side of which is written exactly in PHP. Creation of scripts for execution on the server-side. PHP is most widely used in this way. All you need is a PHP parser, web server, and browser. In order for you to be able to view the results of running PHP scripts in a browser, you need a working web server and PHP installed. See the PHP Installation subsection for more information.

E-commerce Applications

E-commerce is a very large area in which PHP has to offer a number of ways to create quality products. With frameworks like Symfony, CakePHP, Zend, or CodeIgniter, PHP can offer a very wide range of possibilities for creating e-commerce programs. Such frameworks are open source.

PHP for Creating Databases

Typically, databases are used as data storage. PHP allows you to use various database management systems, but the most popular today in conjunction with PHP is the MySQL DBMS.

MySQL is a free database management system developed by Oracle that allows you to interact with the database using SQL commands. MySQL is relatively easy to install and configure. Moreover, this DBMS can run on all popular operating systems - Windows, macOS, Linux. MySQL is fine for both small and large projects.

PHP in Building Applications

Creation of windowed applications that run on the client-side. PHP may not be the best language for building these kinds of applications, but if you know PHP very well and would like to use some of its capabilities in your client applications, you can use PHP-GTK to create such applications.

CMS and Site Engines

There are two types of CMS - boxed (ready-made software product that can be downloaded or bought) and self-written (which can only be obtained from the developer). Here we will consider only the first ones since the second ones are usually just a replication of a project once written by a developer: this leads to problems with the architecture, the lack of documenting the program code, and, as a result, modernization and support of such solutions are usually very difficult.

Authorization Systems

Forums, online stores, guest books, etc. use registration and subsequent authorization of users. You could even say that this is almost a necessary function of every site. From the point of view of any information system, this is the process of making a decision on granting access to a subject to perform an operation based on any knowledge about the subject. At this point, the subject, as a rule, should already be identified (we need to know who he is) and authenticated (his identity has been confirmed).

Sessions and Cookies

They are needed to store user data when navigating between pages. And this is also a PHP mechanism that can be implemented through the session_start () functions.

● Working with images

With PHP you can work with various types of images, so PHP sites can be as bright and colorful as you want them to be.

● PHP for mobile applications

The main goal of a mobile application is to involve users or partners in your business. This is where personalizing the customer experience and creating the right context is of paramount importance. Therefore, today you can find few self-contained applications, and most of them rely on back-end services.

Parsing

The verb “to parse” literally means nothing bad. Parsing or structuring are useful and necessary actions. In the language of everyone who works with data on sites, this word has its own connotation.

Parse - collect and organize information posted on certain sites using special programs that automate the process.

What Should a PHP Developer Know?

● PHP requires knowledge in the following areas:

● have at least 2-3 years of PHP development experience;

● know and apply in practice MVC;

● confidently work with Git, MySQL, PHP5, and PHP7;

● write Unit-tests, Rest API;

● have basic knowledge of Angular, VueJS, and React;

● demonstrate advanced JavaScript, CSS, and HTML skills;

● stand out for programming skills;

● be a mentor to other programmers;

● avoid problems in relationships with colleagues and management within the organization;

● select technical solutions for the needs of the company.

PHP Disadvantages

PHP actually has a lot of disadvantages:

● inconvenient work with objects;

● a huge number of built-in functions, which slows down loading and limits the choice of a name for its functions;

● a small number of packages and frameworks;

● awkward regular expressions;

● lack of multithreading and so on.

Essentially, it's just a regular programming language. But the fact is that this PHP programming language is geared towards developing web applications and websites. This is the so-called server-side programming language or backend. That is, the reverse part of the PHP language, if you use it for the purpose of developing websites and for the purpose of developing some scripts and applications, runs on a remote server on some hosting that supports this web server. Also, if you learn PHP in a college or university, you can ask for help. There are companies that are engaged in PHP assignment help and are always happy to help you. PHP is an excellent choice for building a large number of successful projects. PHP was not taken seriously by developers for many years. It is a popular language for building large web applications and was known as a great option for creating small projects. But now the situation has changed dramatically.