Learn PHP 2024: What You Need to Know and Where to Start

When you learn PHP 2024, a server-side scripting language that powers over 75% of websites with dynamic content, including WordPress, eBay, and Facebook in its early days. Also known as Hypertext Preprocessor, it’s not going away—it’s just getting smarter. While new frameworks come and go, PHP remains the quiet workhorse behind most of the web you use daily.

You don’t need a computer science degree to learn PHP, a language designed for building websites that interact with databases and handle user input. It’s one of the most accessible entry points into backend programming, the part of web development that runs on servers, not in browsers. Many WordPress development, the process of customizing and extending WordPress sites with themes and plugins. And if you’ve ever wondered how a site like a blog or e-commerce store pulls up your profile or processes a payment, that’s PHP working behind the scenes.

PHP in 2024 isn’t the same as it was in 2010. Modern PHP (8.1 and up) is faster, safer, and cleaner. It supports type declarations, unions, and attributes—features that make code easier to read and maintain. You’ll still see it in legacy systems, but today’s developers use it to build APIs, automate tasks, and power content management systems without heavy frameworks. You don’t need to learn Laravel or Symfony to start—you just need to understand how PHP talks to a database, handles forms, and returns HTML.

And here’s the truth: if you want to build websites that aren’t just templates, PHP is still one of the most practical skills you can learn. It’s what powers over 43% of all websites on the internet. You’ll find it in small business sites, educational portals, and even government platforms. Learning PHP means you can fix broken plugins, customize themes, or build your own tools without waiting for a developer.

Some people say PHP is outdated. But if it were dead, WordPress wouldn’t be running on 43% of the web. If it were irrelevant, companies like Etsy and Wikipedia wouldn’t still rely on it. The truth? PHP is evolving. And if you’re starting out, you’re not jumping on a dying bandwagon—you’re joining a massive, active ecosystem that needs new builders.

What you’ll find below are real guides from people who’ve been there: how to get past the first few lines of code, how PHP connects to WordPress, why it still pays to know it in 2024, and how even non-IT folks are building full sites with nothing but patience and free resources. No fluff. No theory without practice. Just what works.