Code & architecture

PHP

The short version

PHP is a programming language often used on web servers to build pages and handle requests.

Building pages on the server

When someone opens a website, PHP code on the server can read information, decide what to show, and send a page back to the browser. It can also handle forms and connect to a database.

PHP powers many sites and content management systems. It is a language, not a website builder on its own: the result depends on the code, tools, and hosting a team chooses. JavaScript may also run in the browser to make a PHP-backed page interactive.