My experience with PHP and why it continues to be so criticized

The first PHP script I wrote was for the control panel of my smart home. It was called Nube Kasa 4 and grew over time.

From AdminLTE to Bootstrap

The project started with a front-end in AdminLTE, then moved on to Picnic CSS, and ended up using Bootstrap. But beyond the design, the core of the project was always PHP.

Why did I choose PHP?

PHP is a widely used language for web development, scripts, and automation. What I liked most from the beginning is that it allows you to have front-end and back-end in a single file, with direct access to the database.

For personal projects, this is simple and practical.

Why is PHP so hated?

PHP has a bad reputation, but the reason is not always clear. Many say it is slow or inefficient.

In my case, I use:

FrankenPHP with OPCache
Docker
PostgreSQL

With this stack, performance has been good.

PHP in practice: the case of Nextcloud

I also use Nextcloud on a personal server with Docker. It works fast, but only as long as I have few plugins.

This makes me think that the problem is not always PHP, but the number of extensions and files it has to load.

One simple question

To finish, here's a simple question:

What has been your experience with PHP and what stack did you use?