PHP powers most of the web, so why aren’t new developers learning it?
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The 2026 PHP Landscape Report by Perforce reveals a paradox: PHP remains a dominant force in web development but faces an aging developer base, with only 8% of PHP developers having fewer than five years of experience. Most PHP users work at small-to-medium organizations (48% at companies with fewer than 20 employees), primarily in Europe. Deployment trends show 58% of apps still run on-premises, and NGINX has overtaken Apache as the top web infrastructure tool for the first time. Despite competition from newer technologies, PHP continues to mature with a focus on security, new features, and code quality — but attracting new developers remains a critical challenge for the community's future.
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Insights from the 2026 PHP Landscape Report on demographics, deployment, and the growing talent shortage.Who’s using PHP: Developer demographics and experience levelsDeployment trends and development prioritiesThe takeaway: PHP endures and adaptsMore from We Love Open SourceAbout the Author4 Comments
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