If you have a page, and need to run PHP code that isn’t in your standard page template, you can:
- Use a custom page template
- Create a template with
page-pagename.php - Implement and use a shortcode
All three are valid and suitable methods for doing this, however, do not:
- Try to let users place actual PHP code in the post content ( MASSIVE security risk )
There are some other more esoteric options that would take longer to explain, and don’t involve a post ( of type page ). Those aren’t superior in any way other than that they require a greater knowledge of WordPress for the same result.