Should I be learning PHP in 2020?

imho ... why not!?

it's just "yet another c-style/curly brackets scripting language", which isn't hard to learn and especially easy to use and which was and still is heavily used in context of web-development.

why? its very efficient/productive ... which is of special interest for example for smaller fixed-rate projects, mvps and similar use-cases.

even if php has many flaws, it got a few things right and is for example available on nearly every webhoster out there ...

but: don't stop learning programming-languages with php. add for example javascript, but also python, some functional language - no, not haskel, i prefer ocaml - and other languages to your "selection of tools" ... :)

btw. another example ... "everybodys darling" javascript:

compared to javascript php is a pretty decent language ... just search the net on critiques on javascript, and despite that: everybody uses it.

why? because its in every browser / on every system / every mobile-platform etc.

availability/accessibility/... counts more than some academically influenced aesthetic discussions from some "theoretical computer-science point of view" ;))

PHP is not going away anytime soon. The only downside, it has no use beyond web. If you're new to programming, no. Better focus on Python, Node, Go, Java, or even JavaScript. There's still a strong and in certain niches growing demand for PHP, but definitely not suitable for a beginner, as lots of that work involves maintaining and / or upgrading legacy code.

If you're learning PHP check out the Laravel Framework.

laravel.com

laracasts.com

forge.larvel.com

laravel-livewire.com

Great framework, great community and great suite of tools to make developing fun.

Only if your preferred language is doing so badly in your area that you have no other choice.

For instance, I have been using Python all my career, but to this day it is a niche language in my country. I also know PHP, Java, and C++ from school and personal projects (guess which I used for school and which for personal projects), and I have considered job offers in the past when Python was extremely unmarketable. One of those times I had to move to another city for nearly a year to avoid switching to another language.

It will take you less time to learn it than to read this thread

Depends.

What are your objectives? Why are you learning it? Is PHP your first language? Are you trying to get a job, get general stuff done, or have a specific project in mind? Are you primarily looking at web, text processing, database?

My own thoughts on PHP today is it is a very capable language, and probably as worthy of learning as Python, Ruby, or any of the other mainstream scripting languages - again depends what your objectives are.

In other words - how long is a piece of string? ;)

No unless the only job offers around you are for PHP and you are not willing to move.

In my opinion PHP & Laravel is a great thing to learn right now. Such a productive dev experience.