PHP (Hypertext Processor) is a server-side web programming language that can be embedded into HTML. PHP uses are widespread, and can include any kind of server functionality that takes user's input and displays or manipulates the input. Advantages of PHP are as below:

• PHP can run on both UNIX and Windows servers, which makes it more accessible than Windows (ASP). This scripting language is growing day by day.
• PHP5 a fully object oriented language and its platform independence and speed on Linux server helps to build large and complex web applications.
• PHP is a particularly useful programming language because it allows for advanced programming and is easy to integrate with web pages.
• Another plus of PHP is that the language interfaces very well with MySQL, a popular type of online database.
• Another plus of PHP is that it is Open Source Code. The actual code that is PHP is available to the public for free, while the source code for products such as ASP is not. So PHP is very cheap.
• Because PHP is open source, there is a large community of PHP programmers that help each other with code. This means PHP programmers can rely on each other by using reusable pieces of code called functions and classes rather than constantly reinventing the wheel. This can dramatically cut down on production time.
• PHP is based on C/C++ language and the syntax used in PHP is quite similar to C/C++. C/C++ is still considered the best programming language by many programmers and people who love this language would surely feel more comfortable with the syntax of PHP.
• Very Easy to understand Syntax, some really cool features (arrays are something else!) Interfaces very easily with Apache/MySQL
• Lots of good source code out there to use and/or learn from, as well as many useful libraries for working with PDFs, graphics, etc. Lots of good books and on-line help.
• PHP offers many levels of security to prevent malicious attacks. These security levels can be adjusted in the php.ini file.
• In addition to extensions, PHP has tons of server interfaces, database interfaces and other modules available. Of the server interfaces, PHP can load into Apache, IIS, Roxen, THTTPD and AOLserver. It can also be run as a CGI module.
• Database interfaces are available for MySQL, MS SQL, Informix, Oracle and plenty of others. If a database is not supported, ODBC is an option.