PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML.

75% of OpenCrypt is written in Perl including the frontend software such as the registration form and user account manager and the backend such as the administration panel and 'The OpenCrypt Robot'. We use Perl because of it's fantastic and un-parralled data processing and manipulation abilities, for the complex calculations performed by the software there simply is no other choice.

However, elements of the software such as the 'PHP Login Interface' and shopping cart, and the helpdesk and picture gallery add-ons are written in PHP, and for a very important reason. Whilst Perl is a fantastic language, it is somewhat intimidating for novice users to work with and whilst it is brilliant at generating HTML documents, if you want to dynamically generate content with embedded code it can become complicated. The 'PHP Login Interface' is designed to be very flexible, and to be so flexible the administrator must be able to manipulate basic programming syntax in order to control how the content is displayed. This ability is what makes our login interface so customisable in comparison to our competitors. If this had been written in Perl, it would be far more complicated and time consuming for novice users to work with, whilst PHP enables us to use very simple and basic code embedded directly in the HTML document in order to produce impressively dynamic content and most importantly, without compromising the security of the secure content.

JULY 2008 ADJUSTMENT
This content is out-of-date, PHP has significantly advanced over the last two years and we have now begun re-writing OpenCrypt in PHP. For more information regarding this, please see: http://www.OpenCrypt.com/blog.php?a=18