Aerowen most of the web was built on php.. there are no arguments about that. its historical popularity doesnt automatically make it a good choice in 2023 though. the landscape has changed and php peaked a long time ago. it became the most popular popular language for the web because it was free/accessible, easy to learn, and there were no better alternatives at the time. also because php was the scripting language used by wordpress which is used by most basic websites (the vast majority of the web).
and php is not increasing in popularity as you claim.. quite the opposite. the reality is php is dying a slow death. for very good reason too. its fundamentally a poorly designed language thats disgusting to use. no one with even an ounce of talent wants to work with it anymore.
if you want to hire dinosaur developers who never bothered to expand their skillsets or junior devs who dont know any better it could work. otherwise have fun trying to find talented people who want to use it.
