Gone are the days when we were spending our valuable time on static sites and mobile apps. With the advancement of other technologies and user demand, developers have been pushing the boundaries of programming languages and making them really easy to code and maintain for the sake of developing satisfying mobile apps and websites. One such programming language is PHP.
With so many languages available in the market, PHP remained the most serviceable language when it comes to web development niche. Most of the frameworks of PHP language are also very feature-packed and useful. These frameworks are designed for satisfying certain tasks. Thus, they reduce the time required to code. In fact, they reduce the lines of code without compromising the output.
In this blog, we will discuss the popularity of PHP language, top PHP projects and properties or advantages of PHP’s most popular framework, Laravel. So without any further due, let’s proceed.
PHP language popularity
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is the general-purpose programming language which was designed for the web development by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994. Thanks to faster turn-around time and enhanced security, it is used widely for the server-side scripting.
Following are some jaw-dropping facts related PHP which depicts how popular this language is!
- 39,191,714 live websites are built using PHP.
- PHP is the 2nd most popular programming language in India.
- A maximum number of top 10K sites are using PHP.
- In Sweden, Poland, France, Germany, and Italy, it is the most popular programming language.
- PHP language frameworks are topping the chart in Russia.
- NET is the biggest competitor of the PHP with 37,898,794 live sites.
- PHP V5 is used by 58.7% of sites which are running on PHP.
- Following graph illustrates the market popularity of the PHP in terms of traffic and number of sites using it.
Top PHP projects
PHP language is the guardian angel for developers and business owners due to so many obvious reasons. And thus, not only small-medium scale business owners but large scale business owners are also opting for PHP for web development.
Following are the top companies which have adopted PHP.
1. Facebook
Facebook was originally developed in PHP. In fact, while developing Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg invented a new PHP-derived language named Hack. He wanted to write the code of his dream project error-free and easy to modify. Thus, he selected PHP.
2. Yahoo
Yahoo is one of the most popular search engines. It was launched in 1995 and currently, it counts over 7 billion views per month without any goof-up. Yahoo proves that one can also use PHP for complex and large websites.
3. Wikipedia
This popular informative site was developed using PHP. However, not all components of Wikipedia are working on PHP. But its major component which is Mediawiki includes the PHP code in basic.
4. WordPress
WordPress is a very serviceable content management software which works on almost 25% of the websites. This very purposeful software is written in PHP and it derives many benefits from PHP’s functions such as checking options, processing form fields and uploading images.
5. MailChimp
MailChimp is a very widely used platform for Email marketing. Thanks to its unique features like detailed mail creation and compatibility, it lets users run campaign very effectively. Since it is developed using PHP, it can easily create newsletters and engaging emails.
PHP frameworks
A PHP framework is nothing but a basic program which enables users to develop web applications. In other words, it provides the structure of the basic PHP code and keeps it formatted and clean. By using a PHP framework, a developer can save a lot of development time as well as maintenance time. Just because of this reason, all developers prefer to write the code of web and mobile application in a PHP framework.
Following is the list of most popular PHP frameworks.
1. Laravel
Since its inception in 2011, Laravel remains the most popular PHP framework. It is the free, open-source PHP framework which handles the security of complex web applications really easily. It is faster than other frameworks and it simplifies the code by easing the common tasks.
Following pie chart clearly depicts the popularity of Laravel against other PHP frameworks.
2. Codelgniter
Though Codelgnite is only 2 MB in size (including documentation), it is the most preferred PHP framework for the development of the dynamic site. With its lots of pre-built modules, one can develop dynamic site within no time.
3. Symfony
Symfony is amongst the much older yet reliable PHP frameworks. It was launched in the year 2005 to develop large-scale enterprise projects. Its reusable PHP component feature is very purposeful. It is highly flexible and compatible with bigger projects like Drupal.
4. CakePHP
Using CakePHP framework, one can develop visually impressive and feature-loaded websites. It is also very easy to use CakePHP. It was launched in the early 2000s.
5. Yii
Yii is another simple and evolutionary PHP framework. Here, Yii stands for Yes! Thanks to its high-performance and component-based PHP framework, it is heavily used to develop modern web applications.
So, now when you know about PHP language, top PHP projects and top PHP frameworks, let’s quickly wrap our minds around most popular PHP framework, Laravel. We will study the top properties or advantages of Laravel which are making it stands out.
Why Laravel is the best PHP framework?
Laravel was created by Taylor Otwell who learned to program from his neighbor. With the ambition to offer easy authentication and authorization, he released the first version of Laravel on June 9, 2011.
Taylor is maintaining the Laravel by himself. In fact, he brings new features in Laravel every 6 months.
Talking about the features, Laravel is equipped with some groundbreaking features. Following are the top features of Laravel which make it the first choice of developers for developing dynamic web and mobile applications.
1. A complete coding environment
Laravel offers 3 different tools to tackle 3 problems associated with mobile and web development. These 3 tools are Laravel Horizon, Laravel Nova, and Laravel Echo.
- Laravel Nova provides a beautiful dashboard. This dashboard has a code-driven configuration which helps developers to code fast by suggesting methods and syntax.
- Laravel Nova is the admin panel which is armed with all vitally important features.
- Laravel Echo handles the broadcasting which is very useful to send the server-side event to the client side. With this dedicated broadcasting tool, developers do not need to write a tedious code for broadcasting.
2. MVC Architecture
An MVC architecture lets developers divide the code of the program into three parts which are Model, View and Controller. The Model deals with the proper business logic of the program, View decides how information should be presented and Controller links Model and View. Developing a mobile or web app using MVP makes code reusable and very easy to read and maintain.
3. Variety of Packages
Packages reduce the efforts to write code and guess what?! Laravel has a bunch of packages. However, the most popular and usable Laravel package is Socialite. Using this package, one can add social sign in function in the mobile and web applications. Moreover, Laravel owns a package dictionary, Packalyst, which contains 17000 ready to use packages.
4. Seamless deployment on a server
After developing a mobile or web application, when it comes to uploading it to the server, developers come across many challenges. But with the Laravel, it is as easy as pie. Founder of Laravel has developed a website name, Laravel Forge.
On this website, all a developer needs to do to upload the project on the server is, select the name of the server from the list. Its robust automatic configuration eliminates the need for manual configuration.
5. Inbuilt testing tool
Laravel offers inbuilt testing tool named Laravel Dusk. This tool tests the click events and finds the bug. Compared to third-party testing tools, Laravel Dusk is a very reliable testing tool to test Laravel mobile and web applications.
Conclusion
PHP is undoubtedly the best language to develop mobile and web applications. But to push the boundaries of PHP, you have to opt for a PHP framework. It enables developers to code with minimum efforts without compromising the output. According to many resources, Laravel is the most used PHP framework.
It follows the MVC architecture and comes with many inbuilt features such as testing tools, deployment and packages. With Laravel, you can not only develop the app in less time, but you can develop it in such a way that it is easy to maintain in the future.
Author: Vishal Virani
Vishal Virani is a Founder and CEO of Coruscate Solutions, a leading PHP app development company which offers hire Laravel developer service. He enjoys writing about the vital role of mobile apps for different industries, custom web development, and the latest technology trends.
