PHP, or Hypertext Preprocessor, was created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994 as a tool for tracking visitors to his personal website. Originally called “Personal Home Page Tools,” it was later renamed to “PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor” to reflect its growing capabilities. In 1995, the first version of PHP was released to the public, allowing users to create simple dynamic web pages. This marked the beginning of PHP’s evolution into a powerful web development language.

In the late 1990s, Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski rewrote the core of PHP, introducing the concept of a web server module instead of a standalone executable. This allowed for better performance and improved security. In 2000, PHP 4 was released, bringing new features such as support for object-oriented programming and better error handling.

The early 2000s saw PHP’s popularity soar, with major companies like Yahoo, Facebook, and Wikipedia adopting it as their primary programming language. In 2004, PHP 5 was released, introducing new features like improved memory management and support for XML.

As the demand for more powerful web applications grew, PHP continued to evolve. In 2007, PHP 5.2 was released, bringing with it new features like native support for SQLite and improved JSON support. In 2012, PHP 5.4 was released, introducing traits, a new method of code reuse, and improvements in performance and security.

The most recent major release of PHP, version 7, was released in 2015. This marked a significant milestone in PHP’s evolution, with major improvements in performance, memory usage, and error handling. PHP 7 also introduced new language features such as scalar type declarations and the spaceship operator, making it more robust and modern.

Today, PHP is one of the most widely used programming languages for web development, powering over 78% of all websites on the internet. Its evolution from a simple tool for tracking website visitors to a powerful and versatile language is a testament to its enduring popularity and adaptability. As technology continues to advance, it is clear that PHP will continue to evolve and remain a crucial tool for web development.