PHP: New Features

PHP Core

Integer Octal Literal Prefix

Octal integers can now use an explicit 0o/0O prefix in integer literals, similarly to binary and hexadecimal integer literals.

<?php
014;  // Non-prefix octal literal
0o14; // Prefixed octal literal
?>

Array Unpacking with String Keys

Added support for array unpacking with strings keys.

<?php
$arr1 = [1, 'a' => 'b'];
$arr2 = [...$arr1, 'c' => 'd']; //[1, 'a' => 'b', 'c' => 'd']
?>

Named Argument After Argument Unpacking

It is now possible to specify named arguments after an argument unpack. e.g. foo(...$args, named: $arg).

full-path Key for File Uploads

File uploads now provide an additional full_path key, which contains the full path (rather than just the basename) of the uploaded file. This is intended for use in conjunction with "upload webkitdirectory".

Enumerations

Support for Enumerations has been added.

Fibers

Support for Fibers has been added.

First Class Callable Syntax

Closures for callables can now be created using the syntax myFunc(...), which is identical to Closure::fromCallable('myFunc').

Nota: The ... is part of the syntax, and not an omission.

Intersection Types

Support for intersection types has been added.

Attenzione

Intersection types cannot be used together with union types

Never type

A new return only type never has been added. This indicates that a function either exit(), throws an exception, or doesn't terminate.

`new` in Initializers

It is now possible to use new ClassName() expressions as the default value of a parameter, static variable, global constant initializers, and as attribute arguments. Objects can also be passed to define() now.

Readonly properties

Support for readonly has been added.

Final class constants

Added support for the final modifier for class constants. Also, interface constants become overridable by default.

CURL

Added the CURLOPT_DOH_URL option.

Added options for blob certificate when libcurl >= 7.71.0:

CURLOPT_ISSUERCERT_BLOB
CURLOPT_PROXY_ISSUERCERT
CURLOPT_PROXY_ISSUERCERT_BLOB
CURLOPT_PROXY_SSLCERT_BLOB
CURLOPT_PROXY_SSLKEY_BLOB
CURLOPT_SSLCERT_BLOB
CURLOPT_SSLKEY_BLOB

Added CURLStringFile, which can be used to post a file from a string rather than a file:

<?php
$file = new CURLStringFile($data, 'filename.txt', 'text/plain');
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, ['file' => $file]);
?>

FPM

Added openmetrics status format. It can be used by Prometheus to fetch FPM metrics.

Added new pool option for the dynamic process manager called pm.max_spawn_rate. It allows to start a number of children at a faster rate when dynamic pm is selected. The default value is 32 which was the previous hard coded value.

GD

Avif support is now available through imagecreatefromavif() and imageavif(), if libgd has been built with Avif support.

Hash

The following functions hash(), hash_file(), and hash_init() now support an additional optional options argument, which can be used to pass algorithm specific data.

MurmurHash3

Added support for MurmurHash3 with streaming support. The following variants are implemented:

murmur3a, 32-bit hash
murmur3c, 128-bit hash for x86
murmur3f, 128-bit hash for x64

The initial hash state can be passed through the seed key in the options array, for example:

<?php
$h = hash("murmur3f", $data, options: ["seed" => 42]);
echo $h, "\n";
?>

A valid seed value is within the range from 0 to the platform defined UINT_MAX, usually 4294967295.

xxHash

Added support for xxHash. The following variants are implemented:

xxh32, 32-bit hash
xxh64, 64-bit hash
xxh3, 64-bit hash
xxh128, 128-bit hash

The initial hash state can be passed through the seed key in the options array, for example:

<?php
$h = hash("xxh3", $data, options: ["seed" => 42]);
echo $h, "\n";
?>

Secret usage is supported through passing the secret key in the options array, too:

<?php
$h = hash("xxh3", $data, options: ["secret" => "at least 136 bytes long secret here"]);
echo $h, "\n";
?>

The quality of the custom secret is crucial for the quality of the resulting hash. It is highly recommended for the secret to use the best possible entropy.

MySQLi

New INI directive `mysqli.local_infile_directory`

The mysqli.local_infile_directory INI directive has been added, which can be used to specify a directory from which files are allowed to be loaded. It is only meaningful if mysqli.allow_local_infile is not enabled, as all directories are allowed in that case.

Binding parameters in execute

It is now possible to bind parameters by passing them as an array to mysqli_stmt::execute(). All values will be bound as strings. Only list arrays are allowed. This new feature is not available when MySQLi is compiled with libmysqlclient.

<?php
$stmt = $mysqli->prepare('INSERT INTO users(id, name) VALUES(?,?)');
$stmt->execute([1, $username]);
?>

New method mysqli_result::fetch_column()

mysqli_result::fetch_column() has been added to allow fetching a single scalar value from the result set. The new method accepts an optional 0-based column parameter of type int specifying which column to fetch from.

<?php
$result = $mysqli->query('SELECT username FROM users WHERE id = 123');
echo $result->fetch_column();
?>

PDO

The PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_LOCAL_INFILE_DIRECTORY attribute has been added, which can be used to specify a directory from which files are allowed to be loaded. It is only meaningful if PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_LOCAL_INFILE is not enabled, as all directories are allowed in that case.

PDO_SQLite

SQLite's "file:" DSN syntax is now supported, which allows specifying additional flags. This feature is not available if open_basedir is set.

<?php
new PDO('sqlite:file:path/to/sqlite.db?mode=ro')
?>

POSIX

Added POSIX_RLIMIT_KQUEUES and POSIX_RLIMIT_NPTS. These rlimits are only available on FreeBSD.

Standard

fputcsv() now accepts a new eol argument which allows to define a custom End of Line sequence, the default remains the same and is "\n".

SPL

SplFileObject::fputcsv() now accepts a new eol argument which allows to define a custom End of Line sequence, the default remains the same and is "\n".

New Features