Languages

PHP

Also Known As PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor

Scripting Language

Citation Formats

General Reference

Computing Atlas. "PHP." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-computing.interactiveatlas.org/languages/php.

APA Style

Computing Atlas. (n.d.). PHP. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-computing.interactiveatlas.org/languages/php

BibTeX

@misc{computingatlas-php,
  author = {Computing Atlas},
  title = {PHP},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-computing.interactiveatlas.org/languages/php},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

PHP is a general-purpose scripting language geared towards web development. Development began in 1993 when Rasmus Lerdorf wrote several Common Gateway Interface programs in C, and he announced the public release of Personal Home Page Tools (PHP Tools) on 8 June 1995.

Facts

First Released

1995 1

First public release (Personal Home Page Tools) on 8 June 1995; the underlying CGI tools date to 1993.

Paradigm

Multi-paradigm: imperative, functional, object-oriented, procedural, reflective. 1

Significance

PHP grew from Lerdorf's CGI tools into one of the most widely used web scripting languages; well over half of live PHP websites still run unsupported versions, a measure of both its ubiquity and its legacy-maintenance burden. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Sources

1. Wikipedia: PHP

Wikimedia FoundationHistory section

Quote, History section

Lerdorf initially announced the release of PHP/FI as Personal Home Page Tools (PHP Tools) version 1.0 on the Usenet discussion group comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi on 8 June 1995.

View the Source

1. Wikipedia: PHP

Wikimedia FoundationInfoboxView the Source

1. Wikipedia: PHP

Wikimedia FoundationLead section

Quote, Lead section