PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a free, open-source scripting language that's used for web development: How it works PHP is embedded into HTML and runs on the server to generate dynamic content for web pages. The server then sends the HTML to the client's browser. Features PHP is known for being simple, fast, and flexible. It's easy for beginners to learn, but also has advanced features for professional programmers. Uses PHP can be used for server-side scripting, command-line scripting, and desktop applications. Code structure PHP code is enclosed in special start and end processing instructions, . History PHP was one of the first server-side languages that could be integrated into HTML. PHP 8 introduced the match expression, which is similar to a switch statement.