PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely used open-source server-side scripting language designed primarily for web development, powering everything from simple blogs to the world's largest websites. Originally created in 1994, PHP has evolved into a mature, feature-rich language with strong typing, modern object-oriented capabilities, and performance enhancements like the JIT compiler. While it runs on the server and generates HTML sent to the client, understanding PHP's syntax patterns, type system, and security best practices is essential—especially as the language continues to evolve with features like property hooks, enums, and attributes that bring it closer to statically-typed languages while maintaining its dynamic roots.