PHP

The server-side programming language that powers WordPress. PHP runs on the web server and generates the HTML that browsers display.

PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely used server-side scripting language. WordPress is written in PHP, meaning all WordPress core files, themes, and plugins are PHP code that runs on the web server before any HTML is sent to the visitor’s browser.

WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher, with PHP 8.x recommended for performance and security. Each major PHP version brings significant speed improvements. Running an outdated PHP version is one of the most common causes of slow WordPress performance.