The PHP Group today announced that PHP (PHP Hypertext Preprocessor), the popular open-source Web scripting language, is now found on more than five million Web domains, according to Netcraft (www.netcraft.com). Netcraft's authoritative survey of Web servers showed that PHP passed the 5.1 million domain mark this month, confirming PHP's position as one the fastest growing technologies for creating dynamic Web sites. PHP is growing at a rate of nearly 15% a month -- faster than the overall rate of growth of the Web -- as existing Web sites switch from static to dynamic, database-driven architectures, where PHP excels.

Originally developed in 1995 by Rasmus Lerdorf, PHP's popularity has skyrocketed in recent years. This overwhelming acceptance of PHP as an enterprise-scale scripting platform is driven by the explosive growth of server-based applications and by the increased recognition of PHP's ability to enable quick development of high-performance Web applications. Also a factor in PHP's growth has been the increasing popularity of open-source technology in general and Linux Web servers and Apache server software in particular. PHP is a server-side scripting technology, which enables web sites to be dynamic and scalable. This is critical for the success of large, complex e-commerce sites and has been a contributing factor in PHP's success.

"The new-generation Internet demands dynamic transactional applications, so enterprise Web sites require highly sophisticated functionality," said Rasmus Lerdorf, open-source project engineer at Linuxcare. "PHP was designed specifically for the Web, with the ease-of-use, reliability and performance capabilities to help people get more from their sites. It's gratifying to be a part of a project that has had such an impact on millions of Internet users around the world."

"PHP is experiencing tremendous industry acceptance," said PHP group member Zeev Suraski, Chief Technology Officer of Zend Technologies. "With use of the PHP platform increasing at a rate of 15 percent per month, PHP is quickly becoming the scripting language of choice for a large portion of the world's Web developers. It is highly reliable, scalable, easy to learn, and well suited for rapid development of high-performance Web applications. These qualities will become increasingly vital for developers as Web sites continue to grow in size and complexity."

PHP is significantly easier to maintain and update than comparable scripts in other languages and provides rapid development, fast execution, ease of learning, and portability to multiple platforms, making it ideal for the rapidly changing Web-development industry. It is the only Web development language that is completely cross-platform, and is by far the most popular Web development language on Apache servers (found on more than 35 percent of all Apache servers). PHP is now in use for high-traffic, mission-critical Web sites at companies like Restoration Hardware, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Village Voice Publishing and Longerberger Basket Co., as well as in use at companies like Pfizer for internal applications.

"We have built dozens of mission-critical Web sites for clients using PHP," says David Burk, President and COO of Clear Ink, a traditional and interactive agency in Walnut Creek, Calif., which built Restoration Hardware's Web site using PHP. "It's a powerful technology which lets us provide the most inexpensive solution for our customers, and it has enabled us to be consistently profitable while lots of other Web development firms are struggling to survive."

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