PHP language still relevant, advocate insists

""Is PHP still relevant in 2026? Short answer: Yes, and it shows no signs of going anywhere," said Matthew Weier O'Phinney, principal product manager at Perforce Zend and OpenLogic, in a January 15 blog post. O'Phinney developed web applications on the PHP-based Zend Framework even before its public release and led the Zend open-source project from 2009 to 2019. PHP, he said, has been the silent workhorse of the modern web for more than three decades."

""While it is true that PHP usage has declined slightly in recent years, it remains the most popular choice for server-side languages by a wide margin," O'Phinney stressed. And with advancements in PHP 8.x, performance is rarely a bottleneck for PHP web applications, he said. The JIT (just in time) compiler and improvements to the Zend Engine ensure that PHP handles high-concurrency requests efficiently, he added."

"The JIT (just in time) compiler and improvements to the Zend Engine ensure that PHP handles high-concurrency requests efficiently, he added. This past November saw the release of PHP 8.5, featuring an extension for securely parsing URIs and URLs. PHP also has proven itself highly adaptable to cloud-native and containerized deployment, O'Phinney added. "The language easily integrates with containerization tools like Docker, empowering teams to build lightweight, isolated PHP environments that are consistent across development, testing, and production stages."

PHP has powered the web since 1995 and continues to serve as a widespread server-side language across personal blogs, content management systems, and enterprise systems. Usage has declined slightly but PHP remains a leading server-side choice by a wide margin. Modern PHP 8.x releases deliver major performance improvements—including a JIT compiler and Zend Engine enhancements—that reduce bottlenecks and improve concurrency handling. PHP 8.5 adds features such as a secure URI/URL parsing extension. PHP also adapts well to cloud-native and containerized deployment, integrating with tools like Docker to provide consistent, lightweight environments across development, testing, and production.

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