PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) was originally created in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf as a simple personal homepage tool. It was designed to help Lerdorf manage his personal website and track visitors. However, as the internet grew and the demand for dynamic web pages increased, PHP evolved along with it. In 1995, two developers, Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski, rewrote the code base and released PHP 2.0, adding support for database integration and web forms. This update marked the beginning of PHP as a programming language, rather than just a tool for creating personal websites. In 1997, PHP 3.0 was released, and with it came support for object-oriented programming, which allowed for more advanced and complex coding. This attracted more developers to PHP, and it quickly became one of the most popular server-side scripting languages. The release of PHP 4.0 in 2000 brought even more improvements, including better error handling and improved performance. This version of PHP was widely used in the early 2000s for creating dynamic websites, and many popular websites, such as Wikipedia and Facebook, were built using it. In 2004, PHP 5.0 was released, introducing a new and improved object-oriented programming model, along with improved performance and security features. This version cemented PHP’s position as a powerful and widely used programming language. In recent years, PHP has continued to evolve, with the release of PHP 7 in 2015, which brought significant improvements in speed and memory usage. Today, PHP is used by millions of developers and powers over 79% of all websites on the internet. It has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a personal homepage tool and has become an essential part of the web development landscape. Its continued evolution and widespread use are a testament to its versatility and adaptability, making it a top choice for creating dynamic and interactive websites.