PHP is extremely popular among web developers as it an open-source language. While it is somewhat similar to HTML, the power behind the code is far greater, and which enable developers to manipulate large databases as well.
Shopping Carts, which have become such a staple of e-commerce sites, are easy to implement using PHP, as is the recommendation of items similar to those that have been purchased as the language supports tracking features. Forums are also big parts of e-commerce sites, as it is important for users to discuss the products that are on sale. PHP can implement this as well as private messaging systems without much of a hassle.
Its support for mathematical functions is also very helpful and these can help keep track of purchases made on the site. This and other tracking features like monitoring traffic are possible with functions like Absolute Value, Square Root and Rounding.
PHP can also be used to embed dynamic text within static text. This is possible because it is a server side language, which means that integrating websites with databases is easy. The key to being such a prominent server side language is its portability. Unlike languages such as “C” which are pre-compiled (and therefore machine/compiler dependent), it will work on any server that supports PHP.
As websites move more and more towards being functional for the user, PHP gains ground as being the language of choice for web developers all over the world.