PHP, Perl, Python Compared

The PHP language: what it is and how it works

PHP is an open-source programming language used mainly for web development.

It's defined as an "interpreted language," meaning PHP code is translated by a dedicated program into something the web server can understand. This is what sets it apart from languages like JavaScript, CSS or HTML, which are instead interpreted by the browser.

That's exactly why PHP is described as a "server-side" language, with scripts assembling HTML instructions that are only sent to the browser — and therefore to the user — once the process is complete.

What PHP is used for

One of PHP's most compelling features is its ability to power dynamic web pages: not necessarily animated, but capable of changing their content in response to external inputs.

A good example is what happens with a search engine, which dynamically changes the page content based on the search terms entered.

Practically all major open-source software today relies on the PHP language: that's true not only of WordPress and PrestaShop, but also of Magento, Joomla and Drupal.

It's fair to say, then, that it's the programming language chosen most often by developers.

What you can build with PHP

The list of features PHP puts at your disposal is genuinely long: it lets you send and receive cookies, upload files, build mailing lists, and handle data encryption (and, of course, decryption too).

PHP also lets you build registration and login systems for restricted areas. On top of that, it's possible to generate pages with dynamic content and collect information from contact forms.

A language in constant evolution

PHP isn't fixed and unchanging — quite the opposite, it's in constant evolution.

As time goes on, the performance developers can rely on keeps improving, for example because websites use less memory and load considerably faster.

That's all thanks to a language that makes versatility its core strength, suitable even for the smallest sites.

Perl and Python

Perl and Python are two languages that developed in different contexts over the years and today serve as a reference point for developers worldwide. They share common origins, both having emerged from the Unix world, but they differ sharply in their approach.

Python, in particular, calls for more precise, cleaner syntax, as shown by the essential role that code indentation plays. Perl, by contrast, is far less strict, and developers can write source code that, while it still needs to be readable, can look less immediately clear — without that ever compromising the correct behavior of the scripts.

Python also tends to favor a single, canonical solution to a given problem, while Perl allows for multiple paths to reach the same result.

PHP shares this same problem-solving approach, owing a clear debt to Perl, even though it's a language built specifically for the web.

Finally, it's worth noting that Perl borrows part of its syntax from shell scripting, sed, awk, C and other languages, while Python delivers noticeably better script readability.

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