Getting Started with PHP 8

PHP 8 brings game-changing features that make the language more powerful and developer-friendly than ever.

New Features

Named Arguments

php
arrayfill(startindex: 0, count: 100, value: 50);

Match Expression

php
$result = match($status) {
    200 => "OK",
    404 => "Not Found",
    default => "Unknown"
};

Union Types

php
function parseValue(string|int $input): float {
    return (float) $input;
}

Performance Improvements

PHP 8 includes the JIT compiler, bringing significant speed improvements for certain workloads.

Conclusion

If you haven't upgraded yet, now is the time!