Better performance, better syntax, improved type safety.

PHP 8.5 is a major update of the PHP language. It contains many new features, such as the new URI extension, support for modifying properties while cloning, the Pipe operator, performance improvements, bug fixes, and general cleanup.

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index.php
Pipe Operator
$input = ' Some kind of string. ';

$output = $input
    |> trim(...)
    |> (fn($s) => str_replace(' ', '-', $s))
    |> (fn($s) => str_replace(['.', '/', '…'], '', $s))
    |> strtolower(...);

var_dump($output);
// string(19) "some-kind-of-string"

At a Glance

By choosing PHP, you're selecting a mature, versatile, and well-supported language that powers a significant portion of the web and continues to evolve to meet modern development needs.

Improvements

Better performance, better syntax, improved type safety. The full list of changes is recorded in the ChangeLog.

Download

For source downloads of PHP 8.5 please visit the downloads page. Windows binaries can be found on the PHP for Windows site.

Update

The migration guide is available in the PHP Manual. Please consult it for a detailed list of new features and backward-incompatible changes.

Support

PHP 8.5 is supported for two years until November 2027, with 3 years of security updates.

New URI Extension

RFC

PHP < 8.4

                            $input = ' Some kind of string. ';

$output = strtolower(
    str_replace(['.', '/', '…'], '',
        str_replace(' ', '-',
            trim($input)
        )
    )
);

var_dump($output);
// string(19) "some-kind-of-string"
                        

PHP 8.5

                            $input = ' Some kind of string. ';

$output = $input
    |> trim(...)
    |> (fn($str) => str_replace(' ', '-', $str))
    |> (fn($str) => str_replace(['.', '/', '…'], '', $str))
    |> strtolower(...);

var_dump($output);
// string(19) "some-kind-of-string"
                        

As an always-available part of PHP's standard library the new URI extension provides APIs to parse and modify URIs and URLs according to the RFC 3986 and the WHATWG URL standards.

The secure and standards-compliant URI parsing is powered by the uriparser (RFC 3986) and Lexbor (WHATWG URL) libraries.

Learn more about the backstory of this feature in The PHP Foundation’s blog.

Clone With

RFC

PHP < 8.4
final readonly class PhpVersion
{
    public function __construct(
        public string $version = 'PHP 8.4',
    ) {}

    public function withVersion(string $version): self
    {
        $newObject = clone $this;
        $newObject->version = $version;

        return $newObject;
    }
}

$version = new PhpVersion();

var_dump($version->version);
// string(7) "PHP 8.4"

var_dump($version->withVersion('PHP 8.5')->version);
// Fatal error: Uncaught Error: 
// Cannot modify readonly property PhpVersion::$version

PHP 8.5
final readonly class PhpVersion
{
    public function __construct(
        public string $version = 'PHP 8.4',
    ) {}

    public function withVersion(string $version): self
    {
        return clone($this, [
            'version' => $version,
        ]);
    }
}

$version = new PhpVersion();

var_dump($version->version);
// string(7) "PHP 8.4"

var_dump($version->withVersion('PHP 8.5')->version);
// string(7) "PHP 8.5"

var_dump($version->version);
// string(7) "PHP 8.4"

It is now possible to update properties during object cloning by passing an associative array with the updated to the clone() function. This enables straight-forward support of the "with-er" pattern for readonly classes.

Pipe Operator

RFC

PHP < 8.4
$input = ' Some kind of string. ';

$output = strtolower(
    str_replace(['.', '/', '…'], '',
        str_replace(' ', '-',
            trim($input)
        )
    )
);

var_dump($output);
// string(19) "some-kind-of-string"

PHP 8.5
$input = ' Some kind of string. ';

$output = $input
    |> trim(...)
    |> (fn($string) => str_replace(' ', '-', $string))
    |> (fn($string) => str_replace(['.', '/', '…'], '', $string))
    |> strtolower(...);

var_dump($output);
// string(19) "some-kind-of-string"

The pipe operator allows chaining function calls together without dealing with intermediary variables. That can be especially helpful when replacing many "nested calls" with a chain that can be read forwards, rather than inside-out.

Learn more about the backstory of this feature in The PHP Foundation’s blog.

`#[\NoDiscard]` Attribute

RFC

PHP < 8.4
function getPhpVersion(): string
{
    return 'PHP 8.4';
}

getPhpVersion(); // No Errors

PHP 8.5
#[\NoDiscard]
function getPhpVersion(): string
{
    return 'PHP 8.5';
}

getPhpVersion();
// Warning: The return value of function getPhpVersion() should
// either be used or intentionally ignored by casting it as (void)

By adding the #[\NoDiscard] attribute to a function, PHP will check whether the returned value is consumed and emit a warning if it is not. This allows to improve the safety of APIs where the returned value is important, but where it is easy to forget using the return value by accident.

The associated (void) cast can be used to indicate that a value is intentionally unused.

Closures and First Class Callables in Constant Expressions

RFC RFC

PHP < 8.4
final class CalculatorTest extends \PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase
{
    #[DataProvider('subtractionProvider')]
    public function testSubtraction(
        int $minuend,
        int $subtrahend,
        int $result
    ): void
    {
        $this->assertSame(
            $result,
            Calculator::subtract($minuend, $subtrahend)
        );
    }

    public static function subtractionProvider(): iterable
    {
        for ($i = -10; $i <= 10; $i++) {
            yield [$i, $i, 0];
            yield [$i, 0, $i];
            yield [0, $i, -$i];
        }
    }
}

PHP 8.5
final class CalculatorTest
{
    #[Test\CaseGenerator(static function (): iterable
    {
        for ($i = -10; $i <= 10; $i++) {
            yield [$i, $i, 0];
            yield [$i, 0, $i];
            yield [0, $i, -$i];
        }
    })]
    public function testSubtraction(
        int $minuend,
        int $subtrahend,
        int $result
    )
    {
        \assert(
            Calculator::subtract($minuend, $subtrahend) === $result
        );
    }
}

Persistent cURL Share Handles

RFC RFC

PHP < 8.4
$sh = curl_share_init();
curl_share_setopt($sh, CURLSHOPT_SHARE, CURL_LOCK_DATA_DNS);
curl_share_setopt($sh, CURLSHOPT_SHARE, CURL_LOCK_DATA_CONNECT);

$ch1 = curl_init('https://php.net/');
curl_setopt($ch1, CURLOPT_SHARE, $sh);
curl_exec($ch1);

$ch2 = curl_init('https://thephp.foundation/');
curl_setopt($ch2, CURLOPT_SHARE, $sh);
curl_exec($ch2);

PHP 8.5
$sh = curl_share_init_persistent([
    CURL_LOCK_DATA_DNS,
    CURL_LOCK_DATA_CONNECT
]);

$ch1 = curl_init('https://php.net/');
curl_setopt($ch1, CURLOPT_SHARE, $sh);
curl_exec($ch1);

$ch2 = curl_init('https://thephp.foundation/');
curl_setopt($ch2, CURLOPT_SHARE, $sh);
curl_exec($ch2);

New CurlSharePersistentHandle class, curl_multi_get_handles(), curl_share_init_persistent() functions are available.

New `array_first()` and `array_last()` functions.

RFC

Setup
$php = [
    'php-82' => ['state' => 'security', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.2'],
    'php-83' => ['state' => 'active', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.3'],
    'php-84' => ['state' => 'active', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.4'],
    'php-85' => ['state' => 'upcoming', 'branch' => 'PHP-8.5'],
];

PHP < 8.4
$upcomingRelease = null;
foreach ($php as $key => $version) {
    if ($version['state'] === 'upcoming') {
        $upcomingRelease = $version;
        break;
    }
}

var_dump($upcomingRelease);
                        

PHP 8.5
$upcomingRelease = array_first(
    array_filter(
        $php,
        static fn($version) => $version['state'] === 'upcoming'
    )
);

var_dump($upcomingRelease);

New Classes, Interfaces, and Functions

Property Promotion is now available for final
Attributes are now available for constants
Attribute #[\Override] now works on properties
Attribute #[\Deprecated] available for traits
Asymmetric Visibility for Static Properties
New #[\DelayedTargetValidation] attribute is available
New get_error_handler(), get_exception_handler() functions are available.
New Closure::getCurrent method is available.
New Dom\Element::getElementsByClassName() and Dom\Element::insertAdjacentHTML() methods are available.
New enchant_dict_remove_from_session() and enchant_dict_remove() functions are available.
New grapheme_levenshtein() function is available.
New opcache_is_script_cached_in_file_cache() function is available.
New ReflectionConstant::getFileName(), ReflectionConstant::getExtension(), ReflectionConstant::getExtensionName(), ReflectionConstant::getAttributes(), and ReflectionProperty::getMangledName() methods are available.

Deprecations and backward compatibility breaks

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Better performance, better syntax, improved type safety.

The migration guide is available in the PHP Manual. Please consult it for a detailed list of new features and backward-incompatible changes.

Upgrade now! Documentation