Updates to PHP-core RFCs, frameworks, and other news of interest to the PHP community from the last few months. Presented at Longhorn PHP 2019 Uncon

1. Lately in PHP
February - May 4, 2019
Longhorn PHP 2019

2. Lately in PHP
February - May 4, 2019
Longhorn PHP 2019

3. PHP 7.4 & PHP 8
Official PHP Repo: github.com/php/php-src
● Master branch === PHP 8
○ Ex. github.com/php/php-src/blob/master/UPGRADING
● Dev branch === PHP 7.4
○ Ex. github.com/php/php-src/blob/PHP-7.4/UPGRADING

4. Upcoming Features via PHP RFC
Unbundle ext/interbase
● Target: PHP 7.4
● tl;dr: ext/interbase is no longer maintained, bye
● Note: PDO-firebird is safe, for now
● See: wiki.php.net/rfc/deprecate-and-remove-ext-interbase

5. Upcoming Features via PHP RFC
Weak references
● Target: PHP 7.4
● tl;dr: Allows for easier caching of objects
● Note: Does not affect garbage collection
● See: wiki.php.net/rfc/weakrefs

6. Upcoming Features via PHP RFC
FFI - Foreign Function Interface
● Target: PHP 7.4
● tl;dr: ever wanted to use raw
C in PHP?
● See: wiki.php.net/rfc/ffi
<?php
// create FFI object, loading libc and exporting
function printf()
$ffi = FFI::cdef(
"int printf(const char *format, ...);", // this is
regular C declaration
"libc.so.6");
// call C printf()
$ffi->printf("Hello %s!n", "world");

7. Upcoming Features via PHP RFC
Deprecate short-open tags in PHP
● Target: PHP 7.4
● tl;dr: <? phpinfo(); <?php phpinfo();
● See: wiki.php.net/rfc/deprecate_php_short_tags

8. Upcoming Features via PHP RFC
Arrow Functions and Short Closures
● Target: PHP 7.4
● tl;dr: cleaner closures!
● See: wiki.php.net/rfc/arrow_functions_v2
function array_values_from_keys ($arr,
$keys) {
return array_map(function ($x) use
($arr)
{ return $arr[$x]; }, $keys);
}
Becomes:
function array_values_from_keys ($arr,
$keys) {
return array_map(
fn($x) => $arr[$x],
$keys
);
}

9. Upcoming Features via PHP RFC
Consistent Type Errors for Internal Functions
● Target: PHP 8.0
● tl;dr: Catch the sanity
● See: wiki.php.net/rfc/consistent_type_errors

10. Upcoming Features via PHP RFC
JIT: Just In Time compiler
● Target: PHP 8.0
● tl;dr: Compile at run-time the portions of the code that are CPU-bound
● Note: CPU-bound code will see a speed improvement; IO-bound will not
● Note: debugging will most likely mean turning off JIT for that xdebug session
● See: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/jit

11. CMSes: Drupal
Drupal 8.7
● Removed: PHP 5 support
● Removed: IE9, IE10 support
● New: Layout Builder
● New: JSON:API

12. CMSes: WordPress
WordPress 5.2
● Release scheduled for 7 May
● New Features:
○ Site Health Check
○ Fatal Error Recovery Mode
○ Privacy and a11y updates
○ New Dashicons
○ Block Editor upgrades
● See: wordpress.org/news/2019/05/the-month-in-wordpress-april-2019/

13. μFrameworks - Slim
Slim 4 alpha
● PSR-15 Middleware support
● Decouple Slim PSR-7 so any PSR-7 can be used
● Decouple Pimple dependency in favor of any PSR-11 ContainerInterface
● Decouple FastRoute in favor of any routing library
● Decouple error handling & response in favor of user’s preference
● See: slimframework.com/2019/04/25/slim-4.0.0-alpha-release.html

14. Frameworks - CakePHP
CakePHP 3.8.0 RC1
● Some additional methods added to classes
● See: book.cakephp.org/3.next/en/appendices/3-8-migration-guide.html

15. Frameworks - Laravel
Laravel 5.8
● Released 26 February
● Changes:
○ Automatic Policy resolution
○ PHP dotenv 3.0
○ Carbon v1 or v2
○ Cache TTL now in seconds rather than minutes
○ Deprecates String & Array helpers
● See: laravel-news.com/laravel-5-8

16. Frameworks - Symfony
Symfony 4.3 soon!
● Some deprecations
● Improved Workflow
● More validators, assertions, and Constraints
● Routing improvements
● Console hyperlinks
● See: symfony.com/blog/category/living-on-the-edge/4.3

17. Frameworks - Zend
Now: Laminas
● Moving from Zend / RogueWave to Linux Foundation
● Target: 2019 Q2 or Q3
● Will require namespace changes
● See: getlaminas.org

18. PHP: The Right Way
● Note: Every open-source project can use your help with documentation. What
are you waiting for?
○ See: NomadPHP Lightning Talk: “Your First PR: How to Contribute to Open-Source Projects”
■ youtu.be/a5foPCInZZ0
● See: phptherightway.com

19. PHP Conferences
Longhorn PHP 2019
● May 2-4 - Austin, TX
● See: longhornphp.com
200OK
● May 17 - Tulsa, OK
● See: 200ok.us
php[tek] 2019
● May 21-23 - Atlanta, GA
● tek.phparch.com
Flyover Camp 2019
● May 31-June 2 - Kansas City, MO
● flyovercamp.org
WordCamp KC 2019
● June 28-29 - Kansas City, MO
● See: 2019.kansascity.wordcamp.org

20. PHP Conferences - Continued
KCDC 2019
● July 17-19 - Kansas City, MO
● kcdc.info
Laracon VII
● July 24-25 - New York, NY
● laracon.us
CoderCruise
● August 19-23 - Bahamas
● See: codercruise.com
Cascadia PHP 2019
● September 19-21 - Portland, OR
● cascadiaphp.com
Scotland PHP 2019
● November 8-9 - Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
● conference.scotlandphp.co.uk

21. Nomad PHP (Online) - May 16
Nomad PHP EU - 01:00 PM CDT
Git Legit
● Pauline Vos (@vanamerongen)
● nomadphp.com/live/5fuXGW7jW04sEEAM
AEuEs0/Git-Legit
Nomad PHP US - 08:00 PM CDT
Write Less Complex, More Readable Code
● Jason McCreary (@gonedark)
● nomadphp.com/live/4pRkSRIlZKKi79OuIf
WJHx/Write-less-complex--more-readable-
code

22. Thank you!
● Comments? Concerns? Anything that I missed?
● JoindIn: joind.in/event/longhorn-php-conference-2019/lately-in-php