Your Guide to PHP Version Performance, Security, and Features
Keeping up with PHP version releases and the most current PHP version can be a challenge. PHP is a must-learn language for web app and API developers, powering robust, performant, and secure web applications, websites, and more. However, PHP is also iterative, which means it grows and adapts through new PHP versions to fit the needs of consumers.
In this collection of resources, we share a glimpse into the ongoing changes throughout PHP versions. We examine how changes are made, and we track the evolution of PHP from the first iteration through the most current PHP version, including exploration of EOL and which PHP version is the most up to date.
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How New PHP Versions Are Developed
Before we dive into why new PHP versions are released and discuss the current PHP version, let’s look at the mysterious process that drives PHP forward – the RFC process.
The PHP RFC Process
In PHP, new features find their way into the language via proposals submitted as "Requests for Comments," or RFCs. The RFC allows developers to submit suggestions for features, performance improvements, and other changes, then discuss them within the highly-involved PHP community.
The process starts with a warning: “If you don't have the skills to fully implement your RFC and no one volunteers to code it, there is little chance your RFC will be successful.” For those brave enough to venture forward with their proposal, the next step is to email the internal discussion list with who will implement the idea, and “whether the proposal is only a ‘concept’.”
At this point, the proposal is discussed. If feedback is positive (or not negative, as the how-to document states) users are then free to create an RFC. However, to create a PHP RFC, users must have the requisite RFC karma.
Then, once the RFC is ready, the author changes the status to under discussion and sends an email to the internals list introducing the RFC.
There, once questions about the proposal have been addressed, and two weeks have elapsed, the proposal can be brought to a vote. The vote can result in the inclusion of the fully-developed change proposal, outright rejection of the proposed change, or a recommendation to go back to the review and discussion process. Some proposals may implement multiple votes, such as when there are two alternate ideas within the proposal without a clear front-runner.
The RFC process ensures that there is ample discussion and consideration for new features and their potential consequences. The PHP community within the RFC process will consider the performance impact, backwards compatibility, implementation consistency, and other factors for each new proposed feature.
While the process may seem convoluted and borderline bureaucratic, the constant improvements and features make the process emphatically worthwhile and help to keep the language true to the vision of those who work with it most.
PHP Feature Release Lifecycle
The PHP release cycle sets an aggressive pace with a feature release occurring once per year. This lifecycle always follows the same steps:
- Initial Release – A new PHP feature version is released.
- Active Support – PHP versions receive active support for two years after the release.
- Security Support – After active support ends, PHP versions receive security support, such as patches to address vulnerabilities, for an additional two years (an extension from the previous one year).
- End of Life – PHP versions receive no further support from the PHP project.
As of November 2024, a few significant changes have been implemented to the PHP version release cycle. Most notable is the previously mentioned additional year of security support. PHP versions will now also gain security support through the end of the calendar year instead of one year from the point active support ends.
PHP Community Support Lifecycle Changes: What Do They Mean for Your Team?
The Evolution of PHP: Why New PHP Version Releases Matter
Put simply, advancements in PHP typically follow three categories:
- Feature and usability improvements – Helping to realize the latest development trends and technologies while improving the overall development experience.
- Performance improvements – Web applications need increasingly fast response times to keep users happy.
- Security improvements – Ensuring that user data is safe, and that applications are compliant with current security and encryption standards.
Those categories are crucial to keeping PHP the language of choice in modern development.
New Features and Usability Improvements in PHP Versions
As we mentioned earlier, the RFC process drives many types of improvements. And, while new features and usability improvements may not cause droves of developers to adopt a particular or current PHP version over another, these incremental improvements do help to keep developers using the language in the long term.
Without a constant stream of new features, developers wouldn’t be able to leverage the big ideas and technologies in the greater development umbrella – think CI/CD, microservices, serverless, etc.
Performance Improvements
A hugely important point of improvement for current PHP versions lies in the advancements in PHP performance. As we mentioned earlier, in order to stay competitive, or even relevant, applications and websites must deliver a fast and reliable experience while providing their requisite functionality. More, they often need to provide that fast and reliable experience at scale, and do it with as little overhead as possible.
Luckily, performance improvements in PHP are almost constant between versions, with even “minor” versions like PHP 7.3 giving double digit performance improvements in popular PHP-based web content management systems.
Security Improvements
As PHP changes and improves through new and the most current PHP version, so grow vulnerabilities. Because PHP is often used in customer-facing, publicly-accessible applications, the attack surface for many applications can be substantial. To cope with that, PHP, and the varying security and encryption standards that help to protect client and application data, are constantly in flux.
Shoring up these vulnerabilities is a constant process, with patches and hotfixes for all current LTS versions being issued regularly between “minor” versions.
PHP security improvements also come in the form of an improved ability to work with the various security and encryption standards, and show a constant effort to reduce the pain felt when upgrading to the most current PHP version.
PHP Versions: Historic and Current Iterations
PHP, of course, has been improving and adapting since it was conceived in 1994. While we won’t be looking too closely at the early history of PHP, we will be providing links to a number of great resources on PHP 5.x, PHP 7.x, and PHP 8.x versions.
The table below gives the release dates and support end of life dates for PHP versions, including the most current PHP version and supported PHP versions, which include PHP 8.1, PHP 8.2, PHP 8.3, and PHP 8.4.
We didn't include the 4.x versions in this resource, but you can see the full list of releases and end of support dates here.
| PHP Version | Release Date | Support EOL |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 8 June 1995 | |
| 2.0 | 1 November 1997 | |
| 3.0 | 6 June 1998 | 20 October 2000 |
| 4.0 | 22 May 2000 | 23 June 2001 |
| 5.0 | 13 July 2004 | 5 September 2005 |
| 5.1 | 24 November 2005 | 24 August 2006 |
| 5.2 | 2 November 2006 | 6 January 2011 |
| 5.3 | 30 June 2009 | 14 August 2014 |
| 5.4 | 1 March 2012 | 3 September 2015 |
| 5.5 | 20 June 2013 | 10 July 2016 |
| 5.6 | 28 August 2014 | 31 December 2018 |
| 7.0 | 3 December 2015 | 3 December 2018 |
| 7.1 | 1 December 2016 | 1 December 2019 |
| 7.2 | 30 November 2017 | 30 November 2020 |
| 7.3 | 28 November 2019 | 6 December 2021 |
| 7.4 | 28 August 2019 | 28 November 2022 |
| 8.0 | 26 November 2020 | 26 November 26 2023 |
| 8.1 | 25 November 2021 | 31 December 2025 |
| 8.2 | 24 November 2022 | 31 December 2026 |
| 8.3 | 23 November 2023 | 31 December 2027 |
| 8.4 | 21 November 2024 | 31 December 2028 |
PHP 5.X Versions
Powered by Zend Engine II, PHP 5 introduced a variety of new features, and offered substantial performance improvements for PHP applications.
More importantly, PHP 5 provided a comprehensive object model – complete with first class objects, interfaces, and exceptions. Though it had appeared rudimentary, it set the foundation for modern enterprise PHP development.
Confusingly, PHP 5.3 and PHP 5.4 brought in changes slated for the ill-fated PHP 6 release. The history of the PHP 6 is well-documented, but at it’s heart, it was centered around the well-intentioned, but ultimately failed, attempt at providing Unicode support at the language level. Because of difficulties in implementation, PHP 5.6 was the predecessor to PHP 7.
The resources below represent some of our work in discussing the features and benefits that came with PHP 5.x versions at the time. They also look at the modern reality for these EOL versions, and how migrating to supported and current PHP versions can help with performance.
Related Resources
- Blog - Guide to PHP 5.6
- Blog - Upgrading PHP 5.6 to 7
- Blog - PHP 5.6 End of Life
PHP 7.X Versions
As mentioned above, PHP 7 followed on the heels of PHP 5.6 after an unsuccessful effort to incorporate Unicode support. Though chronologically confusing, PHP 7 and PHP 7.x versions brought enormous improvements in PHP engine performance.
PHP 7 introduced a variety of new, impactful features that made it quickly adopted. Originally released on December 3, 2015, PHP 7 versions include PHP 7.1, PHP 7.2, PHP 7.3, and PHP 7.4.
PHP 7.1
PHP 7.1 was an incremental feature release, delivering new language constructs, significant performance improvements, and lower resource utilization. It released on December 1, 2016, and reached end of life on December 1, 2019.
Building on the performance improvements introduced in PHP 7.0, PHP 7.1 became a natural choice for fast-paced business-critical applications. Notable features included expanded variable typing features, added features that made the language more consistent, and new functionality surrounding object-oriented and exception features.
PHP 7.2
Much like PHP 7.1, PHP 7.2 brought a number of incremental changes to the language. This PHP version released on November 30, 2017, and reached end of life on November 30, 2020.
The new features and changes introduced in PHP 7.2 can be collected into three main categories: syntax improvements, security improvements, and deprecations. Additionally, it also increased runtime performance, with developers seeing performance increases 11-12% over PHP 7.1. Explore the resources below to learn more about PHP 7.2.
Related Resources
PHP 7.3
PHP 7.3 added many new features and improvements to the PHP developer experience, but it also included several key deprecations. This PHP version released on December 6, 2018, and it reached end of life on December 6, 2021.
Among PHP 7.3’s new features were a variety of syntax improvements designed to simplify developments. It added the ability to throw an exception when parsing or encoding JSON, added support for samesite cookies, expanded LDAP controls, and much more. Several deprecations were also included, primarily to remove inconsistent behavior.
PHP 7.4
PHP 7.4 is the final PHP version in the 7.X series, and like the previous iterations, it included several key performance improvements. It released on November 28, 2019, and reached end of life on November 28, 2022.
In addition to increased performance, PHP 7.4 introduced a number of new syntactic improvements, engine changes, class preloading changes, and changes to Foreign Function Interface API.
Related Resources
- Blog – What’s New in PHP 7.4
- Blog – PHP 7.4 EOL Is Here: Are Your Applications Secure?
- Blog – Setting Your PHP 7.4 Migration Strategy
- On-Demand Webinar – Are You Ready for PHP 7.4 End of Life?
On-Demand Webinar: What's New in PHP 7.4
The Zend PHP experts break down the features, changes, and deprecations included in PHP 7.4
Get LTS for Applcations on EOL PHP
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PHP 8.X Versions
PHP 8 was released on November 26th, 2020. As mentioned above, the banner feature for this release is the PHP JIT compiler. While JIT compiling won’t bring significant improvements on its own, it will allow new features in PHP to be specific to PHP, and not reliant on C.
PHP 8.0, the first release for the PHP 8.x series, reached end of life in November, 2023. Explore the resources below to learn more about PHP 8.0.
Related Resources
- Blog - Exploring PHP 8
- Blog - Upgrading PHP 8.0: Upgrade Paths and Considerations
- Blog - Are You Ready for PHP 8.0 EOL?
- On-Demand Webinar - Preparing for PHP 8
- On-Demand Webinar - JIT Compilation in PHP 8
- External Resource - PHP 8 Changelog
- External Resource - Official PHP 8 Migration Guide
- External Resource - PHP.Watch Article on PHP 8
PHP 8.1
PHP 8.1 was the first minor release in the PHP 8.X series. It released on November 25, 2021, and will reach end of life on December 31, 2025. It is the first version to reach end of life under the extended PHP community support timeline, which went into effect in 2024.
Like most minor PHP releases, PHP 8.1 offered an extensive list of new features and changes. These ranged from smaller additions to entirely new syntax features, such as enumerations. Enumerations, also known as enums or enumerated types, are types that have a fixed number of possible values. With PHP 8.1, developers can now declare a backed enum, which holds a value for each case.
PHP 8.1 Features, Deprecations, and Changes
PHP 8.1 Upgrade Plans: How to Stay Ahead of EOL
PHP 8.2
PHP 8.2 introduced several quality-of-life improvements for PHP developers. It released on December 8, 2022, and it will reach end of life after December 31, 2026. It is currently receiving security support only from the PHP community.
Like PHP 8.1, PHP 8.2 includes many new features and changes to the language. A few critical new features include readonly classes, a new random number generator (RNG), disjunctive normal form (DNF) types, Sensitive Parameter value redaction, and many more. Use the following resources to learn more about PHP 8.1 – including important information surrounding key deprecations.
Related Resources
PHP 8.3
While PHP 8.3 included a number of new changes to the language, it has relatively fewer features compared to PHP 8.1 or 8.2. It released on November 23, 2023, and it will reach end of life on December 31, 2027.
Generally speaking, this PHP version focused on tidying the language and making a number of features consistent with the overall evolution of PHP. These features include typed class constants, dynamic class constant and enum member fetch support, and others.
On-Demand Webinar: Getting to Know PHP 8.3
Our experts walk through the features, changes, and deprecations of PHP 8.3 while providing insight on PHP 8.0 EOL.
PHP 8.4
PHP 8.4 is the most current PHP version.
PHP 8.4 released on November 21, 2024, and it introduced a number of exciting new features, and will reach end of life on December 31, 2028.
This PHP version represents an exciting leap forward for the language, including many changes that aim to streamline PHP usage and developer experiences. These include property hooks, the implementation of asymmetric visibility, new find array functions, HTML5 support, HTTP verbs changes, and others.
Related Resources
On-Demand Webinar: Key Features (and Deprecations) to Watch in PHP 8.4
Join Zend and OpenLogic Senior Product Manager Matthew Weier O’Phinney for a deep-dive look at PHP 8.4 and what it means for your team and PHP applications.
Stay Up-to-Date on the Latest PHP Versions With These Resources
Whether you’re just getting your feet wet with PHP, are learning about current PHP versions, or diving in on PHP migration, these resources can help make your voyage easier.
- Service - PHP LTS for EOL Versions
- Service - PHP Migration Support
- Service - Admin as a Service for PHP Applications
- White Paper - Planning Your Next PHP Migration
- White Paper - Hidden Costs of PHP Upgrades
- On-Demand Webinar – Planning for Enterprise PHP Upgrades
- On-Demand Webinar – Optimizing PHP Apps
- On-Demand Webinar – Modernizing Legacy Web Apps
- Blog - What Is PHP?
- Blog - How to Upgrade PHP
- Blog - PHP Migrations: When Is Migrating the Right Choice?
- Blog – The Benefits of Using the Latest PHP Version
- Blog – Updating PHP Using a DevOps Approach
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