If you’re thinking about learning a programming language, or brushing up your skills, you might be wondering:
Is PHP still worth learning in 2025?
The answer is a resounding yes — and here’s why.
Despite being over two decades old, PHP powers an estimated 76% of the web today.
Major platforms like WordPress, Magento, Drupal, and many custom applications still rely heavily on PHP. Even Facebook started with PHP!
In 2025, PHP has remained highly relevant for several key reasons:
- Performance Improvements: Modern versions of PHP (especially PHP 8.2 and PHP 8.3) are blazing fast compared to the early days.
- Ease of Deployment: PHP is lightweight and easy to run practically anywhere — shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, or containers.
- Massive Ecosystem: Frameworks like Laravel, Symfony, and CodeIgniter make building complex apps faster and easier than ever.
- Huge Demand: Companies still need developers who understand PHP, especially for maintaining existing systems and building scalable APIs.
- Simple to Learn: PHP remains one of the easiest server-side languages for beginners to pick up.
If you’re completely new to PHP, here’s what you’ll need:
- Install a Local Development Environment
You can get started by setting up PHP on your computer with tools like:
XAMPP (Windows, Mac, Linux)
MAMP (Mac, Windows)
Laragon (Windows, lightweight option)
These tools give you PHP, Apache, and MySQL — everything you need to start writing scripts and building web apps.
Alternatively, you can spin up a small server (even a cheap VPS) and install PHP manually for a more “real-world” experience.
- Your First PHP Script
Once your environment is ready, create a simple PHP file:
<?php
echo "Hello, world!";
?>
Save this as index.php, put it in your web server’s document root (htdocs, www, or public_html), and visit it in your browser.
You’ll see:
Hello, world!
Congratulations — you’ve just written your first PHP program!
3. Key PHP Concepts to Learn Early
Variables and Data Types
Control Structures (if, else, loops)
Functions
Arrays and Objects
Form Handling (GET and POST)
Connecting to a Database (MySQLi or PDO)
Basic Security (input validation, escaping output)
Starting small and building your way up is the best approach!
Here are a few great places to start:
PHP.net Manual — the official and authoritative source.
Laracasts — awesome screencasts, especially for Laravel and modern PHP practices.
freeCodeCamp PHP Tutorials — great free videos.
PHP is not dead — it’s thriving.
It’s still one of the best ways to build dynamic, powerful websites and APIs — especially when paired with a strong hosting provider like NodeSpace Hosting. 
Whether you’re building your first website, maintaining a WordPress site, or launching a brand-new SaaS project, PHP is a tool worth having in your toolkit.
Are you thinking about learning PHP or already have experience with it?
Share your journey, questions, or tips below! 