In the last few years, we have seen enormous growth in technologies such as websites and applications. Today, every business requires modern technologies such as a website to promote its products and services.

As the demand for website and application development is growing rapidly, developers look for easy language to build their website/apps which can fulfill customer needs effectively. Many languages are used in the development, but PHP is at the top above all.

PHP is an easy-to-use programming language which has gained popularity in the last few decades. But most people are confused about whether PHP is used in backend or frontend?

PHP is a platform for backend scripting. PHP scripts are written to a server that interacts with the frontend or backend frameworks.

That said, this article will help you find whether PHP is used in frontend or backend development.

Frontend development is also referred to as “client-side,” which focuses on enhancing the user experience by offering an attractive UI that includes text, buttons, images, and navigation menus.

Let’s say you want to open your restaurant. You need a website to present your restaurant to customers and tell them where you are located. You also need some photos of delicious dishes which your restaurant serves to attract customers. All you need are frontend technologies to develop an attractive-looking website.

Role Of PHP In Frontend

PHP can be used to send HTML (and CSS and JavaScript) to the browser, but it really works well in computation on the server (and accessing a database, not on the user’s computer).

Not using PHP to focus on the client-side is just as bad as using it to generate only client-side code. PHP is used to do both server-side computation and generating client-side content.

Backend development refers to the technical aspects of the website/application. It is also called server-side development, which is the part of the website which is not visible to users. The primary aim of backend development is to store and organize data and ensure everything on the client-side works perfectly.

The backend interacts with the frontend, sending and receiving information to be displayed as a web page. Whenever a user fills a form or makes a purchase, the browser sends a request to the server-side. The user then receives the requested information in the form of frontend code. The browser has the ability to read and display this code.

Role Of PHP In Backend Development

Every website requires to store the database of its users. This database comprises the complete website structure. Thus, one can simply retrieve, organize, modify, and save data whenever needed. It runs on a server.

PHP plays a crucial role in the backend development of a website. It is integrated with multiple databases such as MySQL, SQL Server, PostgresSQL, and Oracle. Programming languages such as PHP run on frameworks that ease the web development process.

When a user searches a product on the website, all the relevant product data stored in the backend is looked for. Once it finds the right information, it sends it in the form of frontend code. The browser then displays it as the user’s requested list.

While PHP is one of the most preferred programming languages by web developers, coding plain PHP can get awkward when your application begins. You will want to use a framework to structure and organize your backend code.

Web frameworks make your PHP code simple to manage. Adding new features in the code turns into a cost-effective issue when using a well-designed framework. In addition, developers find it easier to learn a new codebase if it fits framework conventions. This can result in improving the overall productivity of the technical team.

Programming Web Apps With PHP

A PHP development company can leverage the strengths of PHP to build a wide range of web applications – from CMS systems to music streaming platforms. Developers use PHP to enhance the backend code of these web software systems.

HTML and CSS are models as traditional as the web. On the other hand, JavaScript has become especially important for interactive rich applications. PHP is the favorite programming language of programmers because it works with the programmer’s JavaScript library of choice. Some of the prominent libraries include Vue.js, Angular, and React.js.

Laravel

Laravel is one of the best PHP backend frameworks that offers an immense development environment without installing PHP, web server, or third-party software. It supports WordPress, Symfony, Zend, CakePHP3, etc.

Symfony

Symfony is the jack of all trades. It is a PHP framework and a collection of PHP elements to build any type of website. If you want your application to be scalable, then you must use Symfony. It is adaptable and allows developers to choose the component needs for a particular project. Symfony supports popular PHP frameworks including Oracle, Drizzle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.

CodeIgniter

CodeIgniter is known for its speed – it helps recruiters to build web apps in less time frame as it has the least configuration. The framework involves security against CSRF and XSS attacks, context-sensitive escaping, and a Content Security Policy.

CakePHP

CakePHP’s components and helpers analyze the development and reduce the number of tasks. It has its own inbuilt ORM, which is fast and simple to use.

PHP is popular – and it’s not going to be outdated anytime soon. It is an easy-to-learn language, and most web developers choose PHP over any other web programming language.

Today, PHP is booming with a lot of improvements and the latest trends with its frameworks. This allows PHP to survive in this competition and become popular among developers. PHP can perform tasks such as database management, redirection, mobile integration, etc.