PHP is a widely used web application platform and is considered to be one of the most popular web application languages ​​used by PHP developers globally. It is claimed that as of the end of 2013 more than 244 million websites have used PHP. It is easy to use and this is the main reason why developers with PHP application companies prefer PHP language.

Lately, questions have been raised about the future of PHP and many advocate removing PHP and replacing it with a more advanced development language and interface, preferably Java.

But PHP has its own share of loyalists who argue that the simple procedures involved in PHP cannot be matched by any other language.

Where it started and where it is now:

PHP has been successful in recent years, and its success lies in being relevant for so long, even though the technology around it changed a lot at the same time. It started as a collection of traffic logging tools and grew into an object-oriented language that blossomed into a full-fledged web development technology platform. It is currently the most important language that people turn to while coding.

What awaits PHP in the coming years?

One has to see how PHP will change with the situation and update with the changing needs of the web. Some PHP loyalists have agreed that the time has come for people who are betting on PHP to address the few problems the holistic platform suffers from. The language has been inconsistent and there is a lot of duplication in core functionality.

PHP has managed to avoid competition from Java and ColdFusion, and will continue to do so. But he still has a lot of competition to face. ASP.net, Ruby-on-Rails framework some of those languages ​​that can be a threat to PHP.

PHP created the model-view-container framework to counter the Ruby-on-Rails threat. But this also highlights the simplicity of the PHP language and how it can be copied to any of the advanced interfaces and frameworks that are developed from time to time.

The biggest advantage that PHP has is its huge online community. The PHP language is used to create scripts. Even software applications like video streaming and content management systems are based on PHP. Drupal, Zen Cart, Joomia, WordPress are some examples.

Community developers have access to add PHP scripts and suggest changes and add features to the main PHP package, but PHP packaging issues are controlled by Zend. This again reflects that PHP has enough developers and a good team of administrators to prevent the original PHP package from being weakened by poor coding. PHP has always been considered limited to web applications, but it can also be used to build standalone desktop applications.

W3techs.com reports that PHP is used by 81.7 percent of all websites. Other sources also claim that the latest version of PHP 5.4 has 74 percent control, while the older version of PHP 5.3 controls only 26 percent.

In conclusion, it can be said that PHP has withstood the competition before and since the community stands firm on its task, it has every reason to continue to lead in the future.

Companies investing in PHP application development must continue the vigor and enthusiasm that have led to PHP success in the past.