It was the first server language I learned. I mean, i did know how to program in java, but i mostly wrote java applets.

I find php easy to write, i can get an API running with a few lines of code without any library, and I find it very easy to deploy.

I typically write ruby but I’ll grab PHP for simple web stuff because it’s really easy to throw nginx and php-fpm on a server and start coding.

There is no app server or MVC to worry about. Every page is a template.