PHP, also known as Hypertext Preprocessor, is a popular programming language used for web development. Its journey from a personal project to a leading web development language has been an interesting one, marked by constant evolution and growth. The story of PHP begins in 1994, when Rasmus Lerdorf created a set of Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts to track visits to his online resume. These scripts were written in the C programming language and were called “Personal Home Page Tools” or “PHP Tools”. However, as more people started using these scripts, Lerdorf realized that he needed to make them more accessible and user-friendly. This led to the development of the first version of PHP, which was released in 1995. Initially, PHP was just a collection of scripts that were used to build simple dynamic web pages. But as its popularity grew, more features were added to make it a more robust and powerful language. In 1997, the first version of PHP with a parser and compiler was released, making it a standalone language. This was a major turning point for PHP, as it could now be used to build complex web applications. With the release of version 4 in 2000, PHP became a fully object-oriented language, making it more efficient and easier to maintain. This version also introduced a new syntax and improved performance, making it a popular choice for web development. As the internet continued to grow and evolve, PHP kept up with the changing needs of web developers. In 2004, PHP 5 was released, with a focus on improving security and adding new features such as support for object-oriented programming and better error handling. This version also saw the introduction of the Zend Engine, which greatly improved the performance of PHP. In 2014, PHP 7 was released, bringing significant improvements in speed and memory usage, making it one of the fastest scripting languages for web development. Today, PHP is used by millions of developers and powers some of the most popular websites and applications on the internet. Its widespread use can be attributed to its ease of use, flexibility, and constant evolution. With the release of newer versions and updates, PHP continues to evolve and stay relevant in the ever-changing world of web development. From a simple personal project to a powerful and widely used language, the evolution of PHP has been nothing short of remarkable.