Current market trends in PHP development

The market for PHP development is constantly evolving, with new trends emerging to meet the changing needs of businesses and users. One of the prominent trends in PHP development is the rise of PHP frameworks such as Laravel, Symfony, and CodeIgniter. These frameworks provide developers with a structured and efficient way to build web applications, reducing development time and improving code quality.

Another trend in PHP development is the increased focus on creating secure and scalable applications. With the rise in cyber threats and the need for data privacy, developers are prioritizing security measures in their PHP projects. This includes implementing secure coding practices, using encryption techniques, and following best practices for authentication and authorization. 

In addition to this, PHP still ranks at 11th spot as the most popular programming language among developers.(As of 2023)

15 Popular Websites Built with PHP

Now, let’s explore the top 15 websites that showcase the power and versatility of PHP in web development:

1. Facebook

With over 2 billion active users, Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform. It is primarily built on PHP due to the language’s scaling efficiency. Facebook’s entire codebase was written in PHP by its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, and his team. To improve performance, Facebook developed HipHop for PHP (HPHPc), a source code transformer that translates PHP into C++ and then compiles it into binary for execution. In 2013, Facebook transitioned to the HipHop Virtual Machine (HHVM), further enhancing performance and speeding up development and deployment processes.

2. Wikipedia

As one of the largest sources of information on the web, Wikipedia relies on PHP for its backend. The Wikipedia website is powered by MediaWiki, a software written in PHP and JavaScript. MediaWiki is responsible for managing the vast amount of content and user contributions on the platform. In 2014, Wikipedia switched to HHVM to improve performance by translating PHP into other languages.

3. Tumblr

Tumblr, a popular micro-blogging platform with over 500 million blogs, is another example of a website built with PHP. In 2016, Tumblr migrated to PHP 7, which resulted in significant performance improvements and allowed for the seamless implementation of new language features.

4. Slack

Slack, a leading communication platform for businesses, relies on PHP as its backend technology. With over 10 million daily users, including Fortune 100 companies like Apple and Walmart, Slack initially launched using PHP 5. The company later transitioned to HHVM, which significantly improved the speed of their PHP code execution.

5. MailChimp

MailChimp, a popular marketing automation and email marketing platform, relies on PHP as its primary language. In fact, PHP is the only language used for everything related to the MailChimp application. PHP’s flexibility and compatibility with various databases make it an ideal choice for managing and delivering emails at scale.

6. Etsy

Etsy, a leading eCommerce marketplace for handmade goods and craft supplies, powers its platform with PHP. With millions of active sellers and buyers, Etsy utilizes HHVM to optimize performance and provide a seamless shopping experience for its users.

7. WordPress

WordPress, one of the most widely used content management systems, is built on PHP and MySQL. PHP plays a crucial role in fetching data from the database and rendering it as static HTML, making WordPress highly customizable and user-friendly. Every day, more than 500 new websites are built using WordPress.

8. Skillshare

Skillshare, an online learning platform, relies on PHP for its backend development. With a subscription-based business model, Skillshare offers a wide range of e-learning courses to its users. PHP enables Skillshare to handle user interactions, course management, and payment processing efficiently.

9. BigCommerce

BigCommerce, a major player in the e-commerce market, utilizes PHP as its primary language. Operating on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, BigCommerce empowers businesses to build and manage their online stores seamlessly.

10. Moodle

Moodle, an open-source learning management system (LMS), is yet another example of PHP based website. Moodle is widely used by educational institutions and workplaces to create online learning environments. With PHP, Moodle offers a flexible and customizable platform for delivering educational content.

11. Flickr

Flickr, a popular photo-sharing platform, relies on PHP for its server-side programming language. With millions of registered users, Flickr allows users to share and discover photos. PHP, combined with MySQL for databases, enables Flickr to handle large amounts of user-generated content.

12. Drupal

Drupal, a free and open-source content management system, utilizes PHP for its technology stack. Used by millions of websites globally, Drupal offers a highly customizable platform for building websites and managing content. Symfony, a PHP framework, powers the backend of Drupal.

13. Delivery Hero

Delivery Hero, a global online food ordering and delivery service, incorporates PHP into its technology stack. With a presence in over 50 countries, Delivery Hero partners with hundreds of thousands of restaurants to provide customers with a seamless ordering experience.

14. 9GAG

9GAG, a social media platform dedicated to sharing funny videos and memes, is built using PHP. With a global user base of 150 million, 9GAG relies on PHP and the Laravel framework to handle user interactions and content sharing.

15. iStockPhoto

iStockPhoto, the world’s leading stock content marketplace, is built with PHP. With millions of active users and a constant influx of new content, iStockPhoto relies on PHP to handle user interactions, search queries, and content management.

Conclusion

The top 15 PHP website examples outlined in this article demonstrate the power and versatility of PHP in web development. From social media giants like Facebook to e-commerce platforms like Etsy and content management systems like WordPress, PHP continues to be a preferred choice for building robust and scalable websites.

If you’re a business owner looking to build a website, consider the benefits of PHP and its wide range of applications. By leveraging the skills of experienced PHP developers, you can harness the full potential of PHP to create a website that meets your specific needs.

Get ready to transform your ideas into reality with Scaleupally’s expert PHP development team. Whether you’re dreaming of a sleek e-commerce platform or a powerful content management system, we’ve got you covered. Reach out to us here, and let’s turn your concepts into cutting-edge digital solutions!