PHP, or “Hypertext Preprocessor,” has come a long way since it was first created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994 as a personal project. Originally, PHP stood for “Personal Home Page Tools” and was used to maintain Lerdorf’s online resume and track visitors to his site. But as the internet and web development grew in popularity, so did PHP. In 1995, Lerdorf released the source code for PHP, allowing others to use and improve upon it. This led to the creation of the first official version of PHP, known as PHP/FI, which included more features like database integration and form handling. As PHP continued to gain traction and popularity, Lerdorf handed over the development of the language to a group of developers who formed the PHP Group. They continued to improve and expand upon the language, releasing PHP 3 in 1998 and PHP 4 in 2000. With each new version, PHP became more robust and user-friendly, making it a go-to language for web development. In 2004, PHP 5 was released, bringing new features such as improved object-oriented programming and better error handling. This version solidified PHP’s place as a popular and powerful programming language. In 2014, PHP 5.6 was released, followed by PHP 7 in 2015, which introduced significant performance improvements and new features like scalar type declarations. Today, PHP is used by millions of websites and is one of the most widely used programming languages in the world. It’s versatility and ease of use make it a popular choice for web developers, and its continued evolution and updates ensure that it will remain relevant in the ever-changing landscape of technology. From a simple personal project to a widely used programming language, the evolution of PHP is a testament to the power and potential of open-source software and the impact it can have on the world of technology.