PHP, which stands for Personal Home Page, started out as a simple scripting language in 1994. It was created by Rasmus Lerdorf to help him manage his personal website, and was originally called “Personal Home Page Tools”. It quickly gained popularity among other developers who were looking for an easy and efficient way to create dynamic web pages. In 1995, Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski rewrote the original code base and released PHP 2, which was the first official version of the language. This version was more stable and included new features such as the ability to connect to databases and create dynamic content. PHP 3 was released in 1998 and was a major milestone in the evolution of the language. It introduced a new Zend engine, which greatly improved its performance and allowed for more complex programming techniques. This version also included support for object-oriented programming, making it more versatile and powerful. With the release of PHP 4 in 2000, the language became even more popular and widely used. It included new features like sessions, improved support for databases, and better handling of errors. This version also introduced the concept of PHP extensions, which allowed developers to add new functionality to the language. In 2004, PHP 5 was released and brought significant changes to the language. It implemented a new object model, improved handling of XML and web services, and added support for exceptions. These changes made PHP a more robust and versatile language, capable of handling complex web development tasks. In 2014, PHP 7 was released and marked another major milestone in the evolution of the language. This version included significant performance improvements, making it almost twice as fast as its predecessor. It also introduced new features like scalar type declarations and anonymous classes, further enhancing its capabilities as a modern programming language. Today, PHP is one of the most widely used programming languages for web development, with over 80% of websites on the internet using it. Its evolution from a simple personal home page tool to a powerful web development language is a testament to its versatility, adaptability, and continuous improvement. As technology and web development continue to evolve, so does PHP, making it a valuable tool for developers to create dynamic and interactive websites.