PHP 8 is now Released!

Published on by

PHP 8 is now Released! image

The PHP development team announced the release of PHP 8 yesterday:

PHP 8.0 is a major update of the PHP language.
It contains many new features and optimizations including named arguments, union types, attributes, constructor property promotion, match expression, nullsafe operator, JIT, and improvements in the type system, error handling, and consistency.

Here is the list of main new features:

  • Union Types
  • Named Arguments
  • Match Expressions
  • Attributes
  • Constructor Property Promotion
  • Nullsafe Operator
  • Weak Maps
  • Just In Time Compilation
  • And much much more…

Here are some of the highlights from the announcement:

PHP 8 Named arguments

// PHP 7
htmlspecialchars($string, ENT_COMPAT | ENT_HTML401, 'UTF-8', false);
 
// PHP 8
// Specify only required parameters, skipping optional ones.
// Arguments are order-independent and self-documented.
htmlspecialchars($string, double_encode: false);

PHP 8 Attributes

Instead of PHPDoc annotations, you can now use structured metadata with PHP’s native syntax.

// PHP 7
class PostsController
{
/**
* @Route("/api/posts/{id}", methods={"GET"})
*/
public function get($id) { /* ... */ }
}
 
// PHP 8
class PostsController
{
#[Route("/api/posts/{id}", methods: ["GET"])]
public function get($id) { /* ... */ }
}

PHP 8 Constructor property promotion

Less boilerplate code to define and initialize properties.

// PHP 7
class Point {
public float $x;
public float $y;
public float $z;
 
public function __construct(
float $x = 0.0,
float $y = 0.0,
float $z = 0.0,
) {
$this->x = $x;
$this->y = $y;
$this->z = $z;
}
}
 
 
// PHP 8
class Point {
public function __construct(
public float $x = 0.0,
public float $y = 0.0,
public float $z = 0.0,
) {}
}

PHP 8 Union types

Instead of PHPDoc annotations for a combination of types, you can use native union type declarations that are validated at runtime.

// PHP 7
class Number {
/** @var int|float */
private $number;
 
/**
* @param float|int $number
*/
public function __construct($number) {
$this->number = $number;
}
}
 
new Number('NaN'); // Ok
 
// PHP 8
class Number {
public function __construct(
private int|float $number
) {}
}
 
new Number('NaN'); // TypeError

PHP 8 Nullsafe operator

Instead of null check conditions, you can now use a chain of calls with the new nullsafe operator. When the evaluation of one element in the chain fails, the execution of the entire chain aborts and the entire chain evaluates to null.

// PHP 7
$country = null;
 
if ($session !== null) {
$user = $session->user;
 
if ($user !== null) {
$address = $user->getAddress();
 
if ($address !== null) {
$country = $address->country;
}
}
}
 
// PHP 8
$country = $session?->user?->getAddress()?->country;

PHP 8 Match expression

The new match is similar to switch and has the following features:

  • Match is an expression, meaning its result can be stored in a variable or returned.
  • Match branches only support single-line expressions and do not need a break; statement.
  • Match does strict comparisons.
// PHP 7
switch (8.0) {
case '8.0':
$result = "Oh no!";
break;
case 8.0:
$result = "This is what I expected";
break;
}
echo $result;
//> Oh no!
 
 
// PHP 8
echo match (8.0) {
'8.0' => "Oh no!",
8.0 => "This is what I expected",
};
//> This is what I expected

Of course, these are just the highlights. Check out the official release announcement for all the details.

Eric L. Barnes photo

Eric is the creator of Laravel News and has been covering Laravel since 2012.

Filed in:
Cube

Laravel Newsletter

Join 40k+ other developers and never miss out on new tips, tutorials, and more.

image
DocuWriter.ai

Save hours of manually writing Code Documentation, Comments & DocBlocks, Test suites and Refactoring.

Visit DocuWriter.ai
Laravel Forge logo

Laravel Forge

Easily create and manage your servers and deploy your Laravel applications in seconds.

Laravel Forge
Tinkerwell logo

Tinkerwell

The must-have code runner for Laravel developers. Tinker with AI, autocompletion and instant feedback on local and production environments.

Tinkerwell
No Compromises logo

No Compromises

Joel and Aaron, the two seasoned devs from the No Compromises podcast, are now available to hire for your Laravel project. ⬧ Flat rate of $7500/mo. ⬧ No lengthy sales process. ⬧ No contracts. ⬧ 100% money back guarantee.

No Compromises
Kirschbaum logo

Kirschbaum

Providing innovation and stability to ensure your web application succeeds.

Kirschbaum
Shift logo

Shift

Running an old Laravel version? Instant, automated Laravel upgrades and code modernization to keep your applications fresh.

Shift
Bacancy logo

Bacancy

Supercharge your project with a seasoned Laravel developer with 4-6 years of experience for just $2500/month. Get 160 hours of dedicated expertise & a risk-free 15-day trial. Schedule a call now!

Bacancy
LoadForge logo

LoadForge

Easy, affordable load testing and stress tests for websites, APIs and databases.

LoadForge
Paragraph logo

Paragraph

Manage your Laravel app as if it was a CMS – edit any text on any page or in any email without touching Blade or language files.

Paragraph
Lucky Media logo

Lucky Media

Bespoke software solutions built for your business. We ♥ Laravel

Lucky Media
Lunar: Laravel E-Commerce logo

Lunar: Laravel E-Commerce

E-Commerce for Laravel. An open-source package that brings the power of modern headless e-commerce functionality to Laravel.

Lunar: Laravel E-Commerce
DocuWriter.ai logo

DocuWriter.ai

Save hours of manually writing Code Documentation, Comments & DocBlocks, Test suites and Refactoring.

DocuWriter.ai
Rector logo

Rector

Your partner for seamless Laravel upgrades, cutting costs, and accelerating innovation for successful companies

Rector

The latest

View all →
Generate Code Coverage in Laravel With PCOV image

Generate Code Coverage in Laravel With PCOV

Read article
Non-backed Enums in Database Queries and a withSchedule() bootstrap method in Laravel 11.1 image

Non-backed Enums in Database Queries and a withSchedule() bootstrap method in Laravel 11.1

Read article
Laravel Pint --bail Flag image

Laravel Pint --bail Flag

Read article
Laravel Herd for Windows is now released! image

Laravel Herd for Windows is now released!

Read article
The Laravel Worldwide Meetup is Today image

The Laravel Worldwide Meetup is Today

Read article
Cache Routes with Cloudflare in Laravel image

Cache Routes with Cloudflare in Laravel

Read article