Why Choose PHP ?

Zend Solutions for Businesses Evaluating PHP

PHP is an open source Web development language. Along with the Apache Web Server and Linux Operating System, PHP is among the most widely deployed and used pieces of open source software. PHP, according to NetCraft, has surpassed Microsoft ASP, making it the most popular Web development language and is being utilized on over 30 million Websites today.

 

PHP has proven itself across a range of large enterprise deployments at companies worldwide including: Hewlett-Packard, Boeing, Lufthansa, Dresdner Bank, Disney Online, Yahoo!, Lycos, Sprint, T-Mobile, Orange, Nortel Networks, Lucent, WallStreetOnline and Siemens.

 

Zend Technologies, the PHP company, provides a comprehensive set of products, services, training, certification, and support designed to make you successful using PHP. We want to be your partner in making your PHP project successful from development through deployment and management.

 

Where Does PHP Fit?

Businesses building Web applications have faced a tough choice. On the one hand, they can use the Java/J2EE application framework, which is very powerful but is also very complex, requiring sophisticated developers and long development cycles. On the other, they can use portal frameworks, providing the ability to quickly and simply expose a Web interface to back-end systems or processes, but in a way that is quite rigid and inflexible, not providing the ability to present a unique, customized, or dynamic interface to the user. 

 

PHP fills the broad gap between these two existing solutions, balancing power, flexibility and simplicity in a single solution. PHP is the perfect choice for most Web sites and applications that need to be developed quickly, maintained easily, scaled reliably, and at the same time be cost effective. In addition, PHP easily integrates with existing systems, databases, and applications, including Web Services that underpin a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

 

Benefits of PHP

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  • Rapid, iterative development cycles with a low learning curve
    PHP is easier to learn and use compared with other Web development languages. The language syntax is very readable and understandable, simplifying team development and maintenance. The code, embedded within HTML pages, can be quickly deployed and tested, supporting an iterative development process incorporating frequent user feedback. All of this leads to improved developer productivity and better resulting applications. 
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  • Robust, high-performance and scalable platform; stable and secure
    PHP is designed for building Web applications that are scalable up to a very large number of users. Zend offers performance enhancing tools for PHP, including sophisticated caching, content compression and code acceleration, enhancing scalability even further. PHP is stable and secure, robust enough for business-critical applications requiring constant uptime and airtight security. 
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  • Easily integrated into heterogeneous enterprise environments and systems
    PHP is fully interoperable with other languages, protocols, systems and databases, including C/C++, Java, Perl, COM/.NET, XML/Web Services, LDAP, ODBC, Oracle and MySQL. As an open source product, PHP is deployable anywhere: on any platform, with any Web server, with any database. PHP is not tied to any proprietary platforms or technologies. 
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  • Proven through widespread deployment and supported by a vibrant community
    PHP is the most widely deployed and used Web development language on the Internet, surpassing ASP, JSP and Perl. The language has a vibrant community of users continuing to support and improve the language. The easy extensibility of PHP makes it very flexible in supporting new capabilities and enabling to take advantage of extensions developed by others. There are a wide range of support websites, code samples, training classes, books, conferences, and available programmers with PHP expertise. Zend Technologies even offers a formal PHP Certification Program.
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  • Enables reduced testing cycles, speeding deployment
    The syntax of PHP is very straightforward and easy-to-read, making it easier for programmers to team up and review each other’s code. It also makes it easier to find the code responsible for a particular error. The rapid, iterative development cycle means that the time spent between making a fix and testing it is minimized, greatly improving programmer productivity. 
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  • Supports central monitoring and management
    Because PHP is an interpreted language, the Zend Engine is at the core of every execution step. This provides easily accessible hooks for monitoring and management tools to be able to track execution and state of PHP applications. 
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  • Improved Mean-Time-Between-Unscheduled-Interruption (MTBUI)
    Because PHP was designed from the ground up as a language for Web development, there is a tight integration between the development and deployment environments. This integration enables both development and runtime problems to be identified, isolated, reproduced, corrected and made operational in a shorter period of time than with any other language.