The part where PHP files are essentially HTML files (ie you can start with a file consisting of "<b>hello world</b>" and add some code as you go) is where the m

The part where PHP files are essentially HTML files (ie you can start with a file consisting of "<b>hello world</b>" and add some code as you go) is where the made-for-web really shows. While obviously a bad practice, it also enables non-devs to organically learn the language in bits and pieces. Sometimes they move on to create hugely influential platforms like MediaWiki and Wordpress, sometimes they just build very hard to maintain websites. PHP in a nutshell.