PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML.
To describe what a PHP page is, you could say that it is a file with the extension .php that contains a combination of HTML tags and scripts that run on a web server.See bottom of page on How to choose Php web hosting.
Why use PHP scripting ?
1) Ultra High compatibility – Php is server side scripting and runs on all variants of Linux/Unix, Windows and MaxOSX. script written once can run on all platform !
2) Low resources requirement – Php requires very little memory to run and yet produce superb efficiency and thus making it a perfect choice to host on shared hosting environment.
3) Well documented and supported – There are tons of free scripts, sample scripts available on the internet for FREE. Just copy, modify and use !
How to choose a webhost suitable for PHP ?
1) Do you need databases ? – Most websites needs at least one, look for host that supports MySQL, it is free and efficient.
2) Are you running encrypted php code ? – If your commercial Php code were encrypted, look for hosts that have pre-installed decrypter like IONCube.
3) Do you need SSH ? – Some host offers SSH for FREE or at a small fee. SSH allows you to configure your php environment easily but it is entirely optional.
4) FastCGI for php – FastCGI for PHP makes all your PHP applications persistant. There is no per-request startup and initialization overhead. This makes possible the development of applications that would otherwise be impractical within the CGI paradigm (e.g. a huge PHP script or an application that requires a connection to one or more databases).