If you want to choose PHP-hosting correctly you should estimate the future of your site:
The volume of required disk space;
The daily number of visitors and their intake of traffic;
Number of databases;
Resource capacity of server scripts.
For a small homepage, which sometimes will be looked only by friends and random passers-by, free hosting will be quite suitable. For more complex projects, such as a forum or a major theme portal it is better to choose paid PHP-hosting with established database MySQL. If you only start your activity, it can be an inexpensive hosting service which enables the appropriate register of free domain name for the new website (Editor’s note. True, the domain name is registered on the name of the hosting company and it does not belong to the customer).
The programming language PHP has been specially created to automate basic tasks of Webmasters – to generate dynamic HTML-pages, for creation of database queries, etc. Strong links with crossed HTML allows to server PHP-scripts to create pages that are supported by all popular browsers. And therefore currently support of the PHP language is included in the standard package of services in almost all paid hosting (Editor’s note. It is included even in many free hosting. But keep in mind that except for a standard package there is cheap package: starting, where is no support for PHP, as usual).
The broad functionality of scripting language PHP in conjunction with the simplicity of its syntax, the rapid implementation of procedures, as well as free distribution of the shell (under license) provide a great popularity of PHP among the developers of web sites around the world. Among the competitors of PHP we may note the Perl language and technology JSP and ASP (Usage Statistics for PHP version nexen.net, statistics indeed.com upon request of employers). With PHP you can also create tools for managing popular operating systems (UNIX, Linux, Windows and Mac OS , but in this area it is known, much smaller and inferior than languages Python, Perl and VBScript.
PHP interpreter consists of a core that implements the basic functions of language, and plug additional modules to handle the following tasks:
Formation of database queries;
Work with image files: cropping, conversion;
Work with documents of different formats;
Encryption.
PHP interpreter should be installed on a web server as CGI-application, also possible that the interaction between the interpreter and the server can be implemented through a special module. In a standard PHP installation manufacturers include only the most useful and popular modules, but any programmer can create a similar module to solve their own problems and connect it to the interpreter of PHP. In fact, the PHP programming language is similar to C, and some language constructs are made similar to language Perl. PHP is developed by a large group of programmers, enthusiasts, who improve its core, develop additional modules, create documentation of language and work with class library of PHP.
Before you buy any web hosting, you