How do I install PHP — The Web Scripting Language Powering Much of the Internet?

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PHP — The Web Scripting Language Powering Much of the Internet

# Install brew install php # macOS sudo apt install php # Debian/Ubuntu docker run --rm -it php:8.3 bash # Docker php --version php -S localhost:8000 # Built-in dev server

<?php // index.php declare(strict_types=1); function greet(string $name): string { return "Hello, " . $name; } $users = [ ["name" => "Alice", "score" => 95], ["name" => "Bob", "score" => 87], ]; usort($users, fn($a, $b) => $b["score"] <=> $a["score"]); foreach ($users as $user) { printf("%s: %d\n", $user["name"], $user["score"]); }

What PHP Does

Server-side scripting — embedded in HTML or standalone
CLI execution — scripts, CLIs, cron jobs
Built-in web server — php -S for dev
Huge standard library — strings, arrays, HTTP, crypto, DB, JSON
Frameworks — Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter, Phalcon, Yii
CMS — WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento
ORM — Eloquent (Laravel), Doctrine (Symfony)
Composer — Packagist is the largest PHP package registry
JIT compiler — OPcache + JIT in PHP 8.0+
Modern syntax — union types, enums, readonly, attributes, first-class callable

Architecture

Zend Engine interprets PHP bytecode. OPcache caches compiled bytecode between requests. PHP-FPM process manager serves requests behind Nginx or Apache. PHP 8 added a JIT tracing optimizer on top of OPcache for CPU-bound workloads.

Self-Hosting

# Production stack
# PHP-FPM + Nginx
apt install php8.3-fpm nginx
systemctl enable php8.3-fpm nginx

Key Features

Embedded in HTML or standalone
JIT compiler (8.0+)
Union and intersection types
Enums (8.1+)
Readonly properties (8.1+) and readonly classes (8.2+)
Attributes (metadata annotations)
First-class callable syntax
Composer package ecosystem
Laravel and Symfony frameworks
WordPress and many CMS

Comparison

Language	Use	Startup	Ecosystem
PHP	Web, CLI	Per-request	Huge (CMS)
Python	Web, ML, scripts	Per-request (uvicorn)	Huge
Ruby	Web, scripts	Per-request (Rails)	Large
Node.js	Web, CLI	Long-running	Huge
Go	Services	Long-running	Large

常见问题 FAQ

Q: PHP 过时了吗？ A: 没有。现代 PHP (8.x) 类型系统、性能、工具都和其他主流语言接近。WordPress 之类的 CMS 还是 PHP 主导。Laravel 生态非常健康。

Q: PHP vs Python web？ A: PHP 在共享主机和 CMS 场景无可替代；Python 在 ML/数据场景优势明显。Web 框架层面两者都很成熟（Laravel vs Django/FastAPI）。

Q: JIT 有多快？ A: CPU-bound 提升明显（2-3x），web IO-bound 提升不大（因为每次请求重新编译一遍 bytecode）。OPcache 才是 web 性能的关键。

PHP — The Web Scripting Language Powering Much of the Internet

Use it first, then decide how deep to go

What PHP Does

Architecture

Self-Hosting

Key Features

Comparison

常见问题 FAQ

来源与致谢 Sources

Discussion

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