The document reflects on the early days of PHP, recounting personal experiences and challenges faced by developers from 1996 onwards. It highlights the evolution of PHP, from its initial release to its significant role in web development, including the lack of documentation and tools in the early years. The narrative emphasizes the importance of PHP in the creation of influential platforms, suggesting that without it, the web landscape could have been very different.

1. A WORLD WITHOUT PHP

3. (SCENE: SWITZERLAND, 2015.)

4. Mmm, fondue.How did I get
here?

5. (SCENE: WEB DEV, 1996)

8. Credit: Jud Dagnall
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

9. “I WAS LURKING ONE DAY ON USENET PERL FORUMS WHEN I SAW AN
ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THE RELEASE OF PHP 2.0/FI, THE FIRST TRULY
PUBLIC VERSION OF PHP. I WAS GROWING WEARY OF TRYING TO GET
PERL WORKING VIA CGI AND FELL IN LOVE IMMEDIATELY WITH HOW
SIMPLE AND FAULT-TOLERANT MOD_PHP WITH APACHE WAS
COMPARED TO CGI HELL.”
IN 1996, THEY DIDN'T HAVE SITES LIKE REDDIT [OR] GOOGLE WHEN I
FIRST LEARNED PHP... PHP.NET'S SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY BARELY
WORKED. I DON'T REMEMBER… ANY REAL DOCUMENTATION UNTIL
AFTER PHP 4 CAME OUT IN MID-2000.
THERE WASN'T A SINGLE PHP IDE FOR ABOUT 5 YEARS, AND PHP DID
NOT HAVE DEBUGGING SUPPORT AT ALL.
- /u/hopeseekr (reddit)
https://www.reddit.com/r/PHP/comments/whc4r/history_lesson_what_php_coding_was_like_in_1996/

13. http://royal.pingdom.com/2007/12/07/a-history-of-the-dynamic-web/

14. (SCENE: TWITTER, 2016.)

15. PHP: Old enough to
drink in the USA!

16. “IF I DIDN’T START IT, SOMEONE WOULD HAVE.”
- Rasmus Lerdorf, 2016

17. “WHAT IF ‘THEY’ DIDN’T? WHAT IF NO ONE DID?”
- Me, 2016

20. (SCENE: CA. 2004, 2 YEARS POST-DOTCOM BOMB)

26. Credit: Nohat
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

30. NOPE, NO WIKIPEDIA.
WIKIPEDIA RUNS WIKIMEDIA…
A PHP PROJECT.
Credit: Nohat
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

36. http://www.php.net/usage.php

47. http://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/

48. http://pypl.github.io/PYPL.html

49. http://pypl.github.io/PYPL.html

50. http://pypl.github.io/PYPL.html

51. http://pypl.github.io/PYPL.html

52. http://pypl.github.io/PYPL.html

83. …are a part of the
PHP community
…aren’t a part of the
PHP community

91. @BENMARKS / BEN@MAGENTO.COM