PHP 8.5 Release

What's New in PHP 8.5

Major improvements with modern syntax, better APIs, and enhanced developer experience

RFC 3986 and WHATWG URL Compliant API RFC

New URI extension providing standards-compliant URL parsing with modern object-oriented API

PHP < 8.5

$components = parse_url("https://php.net/releases/8.5/en.php");

var_dump($components['host']);
// string(7) "php.net"

PHP 8.5

use Uri\Rfc3986\Uri;

$uri = new Uri("https://php.net/releases/8.5/en.php");

var_dump($uri->getHost());
// string(7) "php.net"

Clone with v2 RFC

Modify properties while cloning, perfect for readonly properties and immutable objects

PHP < 8.5

final readonly class PhpVersion {
    public function __construct(
        public string $version = 'PHP 8.4',
    ) {}

    public function withVersion(string $version) {
        $newObject = clone $this;
        $newObject->version = $version;
        return $newObject;
    }
}

var_dump(new PhpVersion()->withVersion('PHP 8.5'));
// Fatal error: Cannot modify readonly property

PHP 8.5

final readonly class PhpVersion {
    public function __construct(
        public string $version = 'PHP 8.4',
    ) {}

    public function withVersion(string $version) {
        return clone($this, ['version' => $version]);
    }
}

$version = new PhpVersion();

var_dump(
    $version->withVersion('PHP 8.5'),
    $version->version,
);

Pipe Operator RFC

Chain function calls naturally with the new pipe operator for cleaner, more readable code

PHP < 8.5

$input = ' Some kind of string. ';

$output = strtolower(
    str_replace(['.', '/', '…'], '',
        str_replace(' ', '-',
            trim($input)
        )
    )
);

PHP 8.5

$input = ' Some kind of string. ';

$output = $input
    |> trim(...)
    |> (fn (string $s) => str_replace(' ', '-', $s))
    |> (fn (string $s) => str_replace(['.', '/', '…'], '', $s))
    |> strtolower(...);

New #[\NoDiscard] Attribute RFC

Mark functions whose return values should not be ignored

PHP < 8.5

function getPhpVersion(): string {
    return 'PHP 8.4';
}

getPhpVersion(); // No Errors

PHP 8.5

#[\NoDiscard]
function getPhpVersion(): string {
    return 'PHP 8.4';
}

getPhpVersion();
// Warning: The return value should be used
// or intentionally ignored by casting as (void)

First Class Callables in Constant Expressions RFC RFC

Use closures and first-class callables directly in attributes and constant expressions

PHP < 8.5

final class CalculatorTest extends \PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase
{
    #[DataProvider('subtractionProvider')]
    public function testSubtraction(
        int $minuend,
        int $subtrahend,
        int $result
    ): void
    {
        $this->assertSame(
            $result,
            Calculator::subtract($minuend, $subtrahend)
        );
    }

    public static function subtractionProvider(): iterable
    {
        for ($i = -10; $i <= 10; $i++) {
            yield [$i, $i, 0];
            yield [$i, 0, $i];
            yield [0, $i, -$i];
        }
    }
}

PHP 8.5

final class CalculatorTest
{
    #[Test\CaseGenerator(static function (): iterable {
        for ($i = -10; $i <= 10; $i++) {
            yield [$i, $i, 0];
            yield [$i, 0, $i];
            yield [0, $i, ($i * -1)];
        }
    })]
    public function testSubtraction(
        int $minuend,
        int $subtrahend,
        int $result
    )
    {
        \assert(
            Calculator::subtract($minuend, $subtrahend) === $result
        );
    }
}

Persistent cURL Share Handle Improvement RFC RFC

Simplified API for persistent cURL share handles with automatic management

PHP < 8.5

$sh = curl_share_init();
curl_share_setopt($sh, CURLSHOPT_SHARE, CURL_LOCK_DATA_DNS);
curl_share_setopt($sh, CURLSHOPT_SHARE, CURL_LOCK_DATA_CONNECT);

$ch1 = curl_init('https://php.net/');
curl_setopt($ch1, CURLOPT_SHARE, $sh);
curl_exec($ch1);

$ch2 = curl_init('https://thephp.foundation/');
curl_setopt($ch2, CURLOPT_SHARE, $sh);
curl_exec($ch2);

curl_share_close($sh);

curl_close($ch1);
curl_close($ch2);

PHP 8.5

$sh = curl_share_init_persistent([
    CURL_LOCK_DATA_DNS,
    CURL_LOCK_DATA_CONNECT
]);

$ch1 = curl_init('https://php.net/');
curl_setopt($ch1, CURLOPT_SHARE, $sh);
curl_exec($ch1);

$ch2 = curl_init('https://thephp.foundation/');
curl_setopt($ch2, CURLOPT_SHARE, $sh);
curl_exec($ch2);

curl_close($ch1);
curl_close($ch2);

New array_first() and array_last() Functions RFC

Convenient functions to retrieve the first and last elements of arrays

PHP < 8.5

$php = [
    'php-82' => ['state' => 'security', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.2'],
    'php-83' => ['state' => 'active', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.3'],
    'php-84' => ['state' => 'active', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.4'],
    'php-85' => ['state' => 'upcoming', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.5'],
];

$upcomingRelease = null;
foreach ($php as $key => $version) {
    if ($version['state'] === 'upcoming') {
        $upcomingRelease = $version;
        break;
    }
}

var_dump($upcomingRelease);

PHP 8.5

$php = [
    'php-82' => ['state' => 'security', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.2'],
    'php-83' => ['state' => 'active', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.3'],
    'php-84' => ['state' => 'active', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.4'],
    'php-85' => ['state' => 'upcoming', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.5'],
];

$upcomingRelease = array_first(
    array_filter(
        $php,
        static fn($version) => $version['state'] === 'upcoming'
    )
);

var_dump($upcomingRelease);

Additional New Features

More improvements for better developer experience

Property Promotion for Final Classes

Property promotion is now available for final class constructors, making it easier to create immutable data classes.

Attributes for Constants

Constants now support attributes, allowing for better metadata and documentation directly in code.

#[\Override] for Properties

The #[\Override] attribute now works on properties, providing better validation when overriding parent properties.

#[\Deprecated] for Traits

The #[\Deprecated] attribute is now available for traits, helping developers mark legacy code.

Asymmetric Visibility for Static Properties

Static properties now support asymmetric visibility modifiers, allowing fine-grained control over read/write access.

#[\DelayedTargetValidation] Attribute

New #[\DelayedTargetValidation] attribute for improved attribute validation control.

Handler Introspection Functions

New get_error_handler(), get_exception_handler() functions and Closure::getCurrent method for inspecting registered handlers.

DOM Element Methods

New Dom\Element::getElementsByClassName() and Dom\Element::insertAdjacentHTML() methods for better DOM manipulation.

Enchant Dictionary Functions

New enchant_dict_remove_from_session() and enchant_dict_remove() functions for spell-checking functionality.

grapheme_levenshtein()

New grapheme_levenshtein() function for calculating edit distance between strings using grapheme clusters.

OPcache File Cache Check

New opcache_is_script_cached_in_file_cache() function to check if a script is cached in the file-based OPcache.

Reflection Enhancements

New methods: ReflectionConstant::getFileName(), getExtension(), getExtensionName(), getAttributes(), and ReflectionProperty::getMangledName().

cURL Functions

New CurlSharePersistentHandle class and curl_multi_get_handles() function for improved cURL handling.

Deprecations & Breaking Changes

Important changes to be aware of when upgrading

⚠️ Deprecations in PHP 8.5

PHP 8.5 focuses on new features with minimal breaking changes. Review your application for any deprecated features from previous versions that may be removed in future releases.

Check the migration guide for detailed information on deprecated features
Enable error reporting during testing to catch deprecation notices
Plan updates for code using deprecated functionality from PHP 8.4 and earlier

PHP 8.5

What's New in PHP 8.5

Additional New Features

Property Promotion for Final Classes

Attributes for Constants

#[\Override] for Properties

#[\Deprecated] for Traits

Asymmetric Visibility for Static Properties

#[\DelayedTargetValidation] Attribute

Handler Introspection Functions

DOM Element Methods

Enchant Dictionary Functions

grapheme_levenshtein()

OPcache File Cache Check

Reflection Enhancements

cURL Functions

Deprecations & Breaking Changes

⚠️ Deprecations in PHP 8.5

Release Timeline

General Availability

Active Support Ends

Security Support Ends

Migration Guide

🎯 New Features to Explore

⚠️ Deprecations

✅ Testing Your Application

Get PHP 8.5

Source Code

Windows

Docker Images