PHP is a widely used programming language that has been evolving rapidly in recent years. PHP 8.2 is the latest release, which came out on November 25th, 2021. This version brings several improvements, new features, and bug fixes, making it more efficient and secure than PHP 7.4. In this blog post, I’ll briefly discuss the benefits of PHP 8.2 over its predecessor, PHP 7.4 (pretending the minors/majors did not exist!)
- Improved Performance
One of the significant benefits of PHP 8.2 is improved performance. PHP 8.2 is faster and more efficient than PHP 7.4, thanks to the new JIT compiler. JIT stands for Just-In-Time, and it allows PHP to compile code at runtime, resulting in faster execution times. This improvement in performance can be seen in benchmarks, where PHP 8.2 outperforms PHP 7.4 by a significant margin.
- Typed Properties
PHP 8.2 introduces typed properties, which allow developers to specify the type of a class property. This feature improves the maintainability and readability of code by reducing the possibility of type-related errors. In PHP 7.4, developers had to use type annotations to specify the type of properties, which was not as convenient as typed properties.
- Readonly Properties
PHP 8.2 also introduces readonly properties, which allow developers to define properties that can only be set once during initialization. Readonly properties can be useful for creating immutable objects, which are objects that cannot be modified once they are created. This feature improves the security and stability of code by preventing accidental modification of objects.
- Improved Error Handling
PHP 8.2 brings improvements to error handling, making it easier for developers to identify and fix errors in their code. One of the new features is the ability to catch multiple exceptions in a single catch block. This feature improves the readability of code and reduces redundancy. Additionally, PHP 8.2 introduces the error handling function called “str_contains,” which simplifies error handling by checking if a string contains a specific substring.
- New Functions
PHP 8.2 also introduces several new functions, including:
- str_contains: checks if a string contains a specific substring.
- get_resource_id: retrieves the resource ID of a resource variable.
- str_starts_with: checks if a string starts with a specific substring.
- str_ends_with: checks if a string ends with a specific substring.
These new functions simplify coding and improve readability by reducing the number of lines of code required to perform certain tasks.
Conclusion
PHP 8.2 brings several improvements and new features over its predecessor, PHP 7.4. These improvements include improved performance, typed properties, readonly properties, improved error handling, and new functions. These improvements and new features make PHP 8.2 a more efficient, secure, and productive language than PHP 7.4. If you’re currently using PHP 7.4, I’d highly recommended that you upgrade to PHP 8.2 to take advantage of these benefits.