Actually, I often choose PHP over JS, because it has a lot more included in the basic runtime. The stuff I'd have to manage the dependencies for personally in J

Actually, I often choose PHP over JS, because it has a lot more included in the basic runtime. The stuff I'd have to manage the dependencies for personally in JS, I have access to right away in PHP. Things like email message header formatting/quoting, PDO/database access, curl (easy to underestimate curl, but it supports much more protocols than just HTTP), XML parsing, DOM, CSV parsing, .... A ton of small things that add up in the end to an easier experience, when throwing together some quick project. And all these functions are standard, documented, dependable (all of these are there since 2006 or so, when I started using PHP, at the very least), and don't involve having to pull anything from an internet over npm that can be abandoned at any time by the uploader.