📖 Table of contents
🤖 The context
I've never thought of PHP as more than a simple tool to solve problems
— Rasmus Lerdor
To be honest, the Php was the very first programming language I touched and the very first I tried to learn (sort off), thus I decided to share my personal attachment to the language that back then was a big thing, but now is often overlooked and underestimated.
I remember when I started my journey in coding, the decision was simple: the Php.
But why?
Because my friends were using it, so it was obvious to take the same path as them in order to seek help, eventually.
But those were early 2000s, the 2005 or so - to be exact and I was still a kid, so I didn't have a clue what I was doing.
For sure, I had some context:
- I knew how computer works, how to build it, how to install OS, how to use it.
- I just wanted to create a website for my Counter-Strike clan.
- I didn't know anything about programming, web development or so (apart from basics of html and styling).
- I just knew that I wanted to create a website.
- Back then, it felt not so hard to do so (at least I thought so).
So I found some free materials, some book in the local library and a free hosting service that supported Php and started my journey (kinda).
Back then, the Php was used mostly for server-side rendering of web pages, with a lot of inline code mixed with HTML, like this:
<html>
<head>
<title><?php echo $clanName; ?> - Official Clan Site</title>
<style>
body { background-color: #000; color: #0f0; font-family: "Courier New", monospace; }
a { color: #0ff; text-decoration: none; }
.header { font-size: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; }
.match { border-bottom: 1px solid #0f0; padding: 5px 0; }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="header"><?php echo $clanName; ?> [CS 1.6]</div>
<p>Welcome to our official clan site. Today is <?php echo date("l, F j, Y"); ?></p>
<?php if ($isLoggedIn): ?>
<p>Logged in as <strong><?php echo $username; ?></strong> | <a href="logout.php">Logout</a></p>
<?php else: ?>
<p><a href="login.php">Login</a> to access member-only content.</p>
<?php endif; ?>
<h2>Latest Matches</h2>
<?php foreach ($recentMatches as $match): ?>
<div class="match">
<strong><?php echo $match['opponent']; ?></strong> -
<?php echo $match['result']; ?>
(<?php echo $match['score']; ?>) on <?php echo $match['map']; ?>
</div>
<?php endforeach; ?>
<h2>Clan Navigation</h2>
<ul>
<?php foreach ($menuItems as $item): ?>
<li><a href="<?php echo $item['url']; ?>"><?php echo $item['label']; ?></a></li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>
<footer>
<p>© <?php echo date("Y"); ?> <?php echo $clanName; ?> Clan. All frags reserved.</p>
</footer>
</body>
</html>
It was an era of Php 4.x and early 5.x, LAMP stack, phpbb by przemo and others.
The introduction of Php 5.x, marked a shift from procedural spaghetti code to more structured applications. Frameworks like CakePHP and Symfony began to emerge, but they were still in their infancy.
There was no such thing as CI/CD, so deploying the application: meant manually uploading files via FTP, stopping the application and re-starting it.
Dependency management was a nightmare, as there was no Composer yet, and developers often had to bundle libraries directly into their projects and so did I.
And I managed to create a website, it didn't look as ugly as it could and it lived for about a year or so and then I removed it.
Then the Ruby on Rails hype came, and I switched to Ruby, Python and JavaScript - but it was only for fun, as I was not doing any serious projects back then (was too young).
Then, about 2007 I moved on to other things, didn't code for a few years until I joined TERG S.A. in 2014, but that is a different story.
🤔 What's the point?
But why I am telling you all this?
Because lately I have been thinking about my early days in programming and even since I am DevOps Engineer now, I still feel a need of writing things down, creating stuff, building things. Even if it's just for myself, the satisfaction of creating something from scratch is rewarding. But to do so, I need a stack that is easy to set up, has great tooling and is batteries included - which allows to see results quickly.
While the modern web development landscape is dominated by JavaScript (with frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.js) and even this blog is built with Nuxt 4, I felt a nostalgic pull towards Php. Especially while working in internal projects and seeing all the Php codebase around me.
So I decided to revisit Php and to give it another go, but this time with a modern twist.
🛣️ Fast-forward
Fast forward to today, and the landscape has transformed dramatically: the modern Php (8.x) boasts features like union types, attributes, and the much-anticipated pipes operator |> in 8.5, enhancing code readability and maintainability.
Tools like FrankenPHP, RoadRunner, are pushing the boundaries of what Php can do, allowing for asynchronous programming and real-time applications. The ecosystem has flourished with Composer, making dependency management a breeze, and frameworks like Laravel have set new standards for web development.
The community has grown, embracing best practices, testing, and continuous integration/deployment (CI/CD).
Php is no longer just a language for simple web pages; it's a powerful tool for building complex, scalable applications, especially when you decide to use Laravel.
Which I must say is a joy to work with, as it provides a clean and elegant syntax, a robust set of features, and a vibrant ecosystem:
- Eloquent ORM for database interactions
- LiveWire for reactive components (without a need of writing JavaScript)
- Octane for high performance server
- Blade templating engine for clean views
- Built-in authentication and authorization
- Task scheduling and queues for background jobs
- Extensive documentation and a supportive community
- and so on...
In other words, Laravel is the promise of what the full-stack development should be, without a need of touching JavaScript (unless you want to). Something like Ruby on Rails for Ruby, but a little bit less opinionated (but still great).
🧂 Future
So, what does the future hold for me and Php?
I want to dive deeper (again) into Php and into Laravel, mastering its features and best practices in order to create on my own, without a need of working with anyone else except myself and Php seems to be a great fit for that.
In short:
I just want to have fun of coding again.