Originally created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994, PHP or Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) is a server-side scripting language designed for web development. It is also used as a general-purpose programming language. The PHP code may be embedded into HTML code, or it can be used in combination with various web template systems, web content management systems, and off course, web frameworks. The following reasons are why it is popular today.

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[Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHP)
**Open Source friendly**
Tools such as wordpress are free when working with php. Exceptions include ASP where you might have to buy some tools in other to work with it 

**Speed**
Performance: PHP results in faster site loading speeds for pages. The code runs much faster than ASP because it runs in its own memory space while the ASP uses an overhead server and the COM based architecture.

**Popularity among programmers**
PHP is popular and used more often. This creates a larger pool of talent to choose from. This helps in lowering the cost per hour for those services. It also makes it easier to find someone to update your site in the future if you choose to hire a staff member for the task or work with an alternate provider than the one who built your site.

**Database Flexibility** 
PHP is flexible for database connectivity. It can attach to several databases. The most commonly used database is MySQL.  MySQL can be used for free. If ASP is to be used, MS-SQL must be purchased.