It can be said the internet 'runs' on php and thats prolly because its fairly easy to learn and was intended to be a web development framework(formerly called personal home page). Php has revolutionized the internet but nonetheless has programming syntax that can make it easy to hack the database(SQL). Php unlike javascript, does not offend the sensibilities of a programmer. Both are used for dedicated apps and are purpose bound. A wide codebase for ruby and python does not exist unlike php and javascript.
With HTML and CSS you can create beautiful websites. Using PHP you can create dynamic content like for eg: Lets say you want to change the template of this website, php allows you to do so without rewriting the webpages or duplicating them. Smart, dont you think?
In the LAMP(Linux Apache MySQL and PHP) stack, php handles the database and these days it is also referred to as Python Or Perl.
So is php bad? Never. Although i have never used it, i know people who do and what they do with it. You'd be shocked what you can do with it as a web developer. The zend framework adds further automation and arrogance in the use and deployment of php. Wordpress is made with php. Php is a server side scripting language, in other words it can be implemented as a CGI(common gateway interface) taking requests from users.
On the downside php lacks multithreaded usage which can be overcome by using pthreads.
So in a gist the internet is like an operating system where most communication(server side--content based) both internal and external is handled by Php. If routers, modems and switches are the heart of the internet, php(along with HTML and CSS) is the pulse. Nonetheless php has absolutely nothing to do with hardware.
Ruby on the other hand is upcoming(still).
Python is an everything language and very powerful and versatile. Probably you can use till the day you die.
Sourced from: https://www.udemy.com/blog/modern-language-wars/
BTW, Blackwolf is a php pro.