PHP is the language that got me to where I am now. In the last 2 months, I've started diving into server-side javascript and have been working with a couple of small projects that are working to bring out widely usable solution. Its really only been in the last year that I've started sniffing when I have to work in PHP. Its been my bread and butter for 4 years, but I've gotten to the point where the inconsistencies in the overall naming schema are annoying (is it "(x,y) or (y,x)" for this string method?). Deployment is super easy with PHP. I think one thing the author missed is that Java is (unfortunately) the primary language taught to most beginning programmers in college. This fundamentally shapes their budding programmer mentalities. PHP has served a similar role as a way for a lot of people like me to get into programming that didn't do much college and are completely self-taught.