PHP Website Dev: What’s Involved?

Print anything with Printful



PHP is a server-side scripting language used in over 20 million websites. Website development involves analyzing requirements, designing the site, writing and testing code, and combining PHP with HTML. Testing is crucial to ensure proper functionality.

There are over 20 million websites that use the Hypertext Processor (PHP) computer language. PHP website development focuses on server side scripting. This means that the commands are not executed on a website visitor’s actual computer, but rather on the hosting server where the website files are stored. Analyzing and specifying website requirements are the first steps in development. A site design is then created and the actual code is written and tested.

PHP is usually combined with HyperText Markup Language (HTML) code. In general terms, PHP code is used to access and modify data, while HTML defines the look and structure of a site. Both components of a PHP based website must be created correctly, otherwise the site will not work.

A site proposal must be analyzed before development of a PHP website can go forward. For a large-scale project, this step may involve formal meetings between the developer and the client. The specifics of a new site can influence the development process. A site that will store customer data, for example, would require a database and special code to save and retrieve this information. It is usually better to plan ahead instead of trying to redesign a website in the future.

Once you have defined the scope of a PHP website development project, you need to design the look and feel of the site. During this phase, the design experts create the layout and graphics of the various elements of the site. Navigation menus, text areas and images need to be positioned. The design serves as the blueprint of a website and helps developers visualize how the site will function when completed.

The code must be written before a PHP website development project will work properly. Writing PHP code is similar to composing a text document, except that special commands and structures are required. This language allows you to extract variables such as the customer’s name from a separate location and insert them where needed. PHP code can also modify or calculate information in order to build useful applications.

A PHP website development project rarely works perfectly the first time it’s written, and testing plays a big part in the build process. Developers preview a website as it is being built and check that each new aspect is working properly. Even after each section of a website has been built, the design can be viewed and tested on different web browsers. A developer has to check that every detail of a site is working properly and change the PHP code if a problem is found.




Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN


Skip to content