How does the use of PHP impact the overall performance and scalability of a web application compared to other programming languages?

Using PHP can impact the overall performance and scalability of a web application compared to other programming languages due to its interpreted nature and potential inefficiencies in handling complex tasks. To improve performance and scalability, optimizing code, utilizing caching mechanisms, and implementing efficient database queries are crucial.

// Example of optimizing PHP code for better performance
// Avoid unnecessary loops and function calls
$result = $db->query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE status = 'active'");
while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
    // Process data here
}