PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open-source server-side scripting language that is especially suited for web development. Here's why you should consider using PHP for web development:

1. **Versatility**: PHP can be used for a wide range of web development tasks, including creating dynamic web pages, building web applications, and developing server-side scripts. It's compatible with various operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux) and web servers (Apache, Nginx, Microsoft IIS).

2. **Ease of Learning**: PHP has a relatively simple and intuitive syntax, making it easy for beginners to learn and use. Its syntax is similar to C, Java, and Perl, so developers familiar with these languages can quickly pick up PHP.

3. **Large Community and Support**: PHP has a vast and active community of developers who contribute to its development, provide support, and share resources, tutorials, and libraries. This extensive community support makes it easier to find help, solutions, and resources when working with PHP.

4. **Rich Feature Set**: PHP offers a rich feature set and built-in functions for various web development tasks, including file handling, database integration (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite), form processing, session management, and more. It also supports object-oriented programming (OOP), allowing developers to organize and structure their code effectively.

5. **Integration with HTML**: PHP seamlessly integrates with HTML, allowing developers to embed PHP code directly within HTML pages. This makes it easy to create dynamic web pages that generate HTML content dynamically based on user input, database queries, or other conditions.

6. **Scalability**: PHP is highly scalable and can be used to build both small-scale and large-scale web applications. It offers robust performance and scalability features, making it suitable for handling high-traffic websites and applications.

7. **Cost-Effective**: As an open-source language, PHP is free to use and distribute, making it a cost-effective choice for web development projects. There are no licensing fees or restrictions associated with PHP, which can significantly reduce development costs for businesses and organizations.

8. **Cross-Platform Compatibility**: PHP is platform-independent, meaning it can run on various operating systems and web servers. This cross-platform compatibility makes it easy to deploy PHP applications across different environments without significant modifications.

9. **Security**: While security vulnerabilities can exist in any programming language, PHP has a strong focus on security and offers features and best practices to help developers write secure code. By following security guidelines and using secure coding practices, developers can build secure PHP applications.

Overall, PHP is a powerful, versatile, and cost-effective language for web development, offering a wide range of features, strong community support, and seamless integration with HTML. Whether you're building a simple website or a complex web application, PHP provides the tools and capabilities you need to bring your ideas to life on the web.