What is PHP? How Does WordPress Use PHP?

What is PHP?

PHP is a scripting and computer language that allows you to create dynamic, interactive webpages. The PHP scripting language is used to create WordPress. PHP, like WordPress, is an open source project.

PHP is a server-side language, which means it runs on the server where your website is hosted. When someone visits your website, their browser makes a request to your server for the page. The PHP code runs on the server and produces an HTML page for the visitor to view. The HTML page is subsequently shown in the visitor's browser. Because the PHP script is only on the hosting server, they can't see it.

How Does WordPress Use PHP?

WordPress is powered by PHP code. A MySQL database contains all of the information on a WordPress website. Everything from your blog name and article content to your plugin settings and user profile information is included in this data.

PHP's role is to extract certain data from a database and assemble it into an HTML web page. See our explanation on how WordPress works behind the scenes for more information on this procedure.

PHP code can be found in files with the.php extension.

When you open a WordPress zip file, you'll notice that the majority of the files are PHP files.

File names like wp-config.php, index.php, and many others can be found in the screenshot below. Each of these files includes the code that allows WordPress to do various tasks.

A WordPress theme folder has a similar appearance. Files like sidebar.php, header.php, and others can be found here. The template hierarchy of a theme is made up of these files, which display the various areas of your website.

PHP code must be enclosed within the?php opening tag and the?> closing tag. HTML code can also be found in PHP files.

Each PHP tag can get a small amount of data from your database. The PHP code for displaying your blog name, which is then encased in HTML title tags, may be seen in this example.

How Does PHP Work?

If you check up PHP on the internet, you'll discover that it's a "server-side" scripting language. Unfortunately, the brief explanation is insufficient for newcomers.

The phrase "server-side" simply indicates that all of WordPress' PHP files run on your web hosting server. Simply said, when someone visits your website, WordPress reads the PHP files to retrieve database information (such as the content of your blog posts) and display it to the visitor.

That appears to be straightforward. However, there is a minor snag. PHP is not read by web browsers. They are able to read HTML.

An HTML Tutorial, HTML is a scripting language that is used to construct web pages. HTML is a scripting language that runs on the client's computer.

Clients are browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and others. A "client-side" language essentially implies that web browsers are responsible for converting HTML code into what you see in your browser window.

Let's have a look at how the PHP code in WordPress interacts with HTML in detail first:

Someone first types your website's address into their browser or clicks on a link.

This makes a request to the server that hosts your website.

Your server then delivers the HTML code to their browser across the Internet.

The HTML code is translated into a web page by their browser.

When you visit a website built with PHP, such as WordPress, you must complete an additional step.

Before sending the HTML page to the browser, the server must first run PHP code to construct it.

Do WordPress Users Need to Know PHP?

To use, operate, or manage a WordPress website, users do not need to know PHP. WordPress comes provides all of the PHP files you'll need, as well as themes and plugins, so you may use it without knowing how to code in PHP.

Most WordPress users will never need to know how to write in PHP, but if you want to create your own plugins, themes, or make complex WordPress website adjustments, you'll need to learn PHP.

We hope you found this PHP Tutorial useful in learning more about PHP.