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Why is PHP losing popularity?
If you compare the user base of PHP with languages like Python or JavaScript on platforms like LinkedIn or Reddit, the difference is striking. PHP's position on the TIOBE Index has dropped from 7th to 13th. Is PHP dead? No, but its trajectory is concerning. While languages like Python and JavaScript continue to attract developers, PHP struggles to shake off its limitations and old perceptions. For years, PHP was closely associated with WordPress, which many developers dismissed as "not real programming." Those days are largely over. PHP has evolved with new versions, and frameworks like Laravel and Symfony have made the language more elegant and powerful. Yet, developers continue to migrate elsewhere. Why? PHP’s core design still suffers from early decisions made to solve simple backend tasks. Unlike JavaScript, which learned from its past and grew substantially, PHP retains significant inconsistencies, acting as a drag on its growth. Examples: PHP's function names and argument orders are notoriously inconsistent. Arrays default to hash keys, introducing inconsistencies in functions like array_merge. Workarounds like SplFixedArray exist, but shouldn’t be necessary. Even something as simple as using preg_replace with a regex often fails in PHP, while the same works flawlessly in Python. These issues are compounded by PHP’s reliance on frameworks to mask its flaws, whereas Python and JavaScript focus on core language improvements. Even Facebook, now Meta, created Hack to address PHP’s shortcomings. However, it never gained mainstream traction. I’ve worked with PHP since its early days and still maintain Laravel projects today. However, many of us stay with PHP out of necessity rather than choice—it’s often too costly to migrate existing codebases. If PHP wants to remain relevant, it must listen to its users, assess its shortcomings, and evolve. Otherwise, it risks becoming another COBOL: alive but primarily for maintaining legacy systems. What are your thoughts on PHP’s future?
If you compare the user base of PHP with languages like Python or JavaScript on platforms like LinkedIn or Reddit, the difference is striking. PHP's position on the TIOBE Index has dropped from 7th to 13th.
Is PHP dead? No, but its trajectory is concerning. While languages like Python and JavaScript continue to attract developers, PHP struggles to shake off its limitations and old perceptions.
For years, PHP was closely associated with WordPress, which many developers dismissed as "not real programming." Those days are largely over. PHP has evolved with new versions, and frameworks like Laravel and Symfony have made the language more elegant and powerful. Yet, developers continue to migrate elsewhere.
Why?
PHP’s core design still suffers from early decisions made to solve simple backend tasks. Unlike JavaScript, which learned from its past and grew substantially, PHP retains significant inconsistencies, acting as a drag on its growth.
Examples:
- PHP's function names and argument orders are notoriously inconsistent.
- Arrays default to hash keys, introducing inconsistencies in functions like
array_merge. Workarounds likeSplFixedArrayexist, but shouldn’t be necessary. - Even something as simple as using
preg_replacewith a regex often fails in PHP, while the same works flawlessly in Python.
These issues are compounded by PHP’s reliance on frameworks to mask its flaws, whereas Python and JavaScript focus on core language improvements.
Even Facebook, now Meta, created Hack to address PHP’s shortcomings. However, it never gained mainstream traction.
I’ve worked with PHP since its early days and still maintain Laravel projects today. However, many of us stay with PHP out of necessity rather than choice—it’s often too costly to migrate existing codebases.
If PHP wants to remain relevant, it must listen to its users, assess its shortcomings, and evolve. Otherwise, it risks becoming another COBOL: alive but primarily for maintaining legacy systems.
What are your thoughts on PHP’s future?
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