On 23 November 2023, the PHP Group released the new PHP version 8.3 and just two weeks later, PHP 8.3 was activated on all FireStorm servers (as you can read in our 2023 changelog). In this short article, we want to inform you about the new features of PHP version 8.3. First of all, however, we will tell you what exactly PHP is if you have not yet read our previous news articles on PHP updates. – We hope you enjoy reading this article and that it provides you with the best possible information about the new PHP version 8.3 at FireStorm!

The PHP scripting language has become an integral part of today’s Internet, as a large proportion of the various components on the Internet are based on PHP.

What exactly is PHP?

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a server-side scripting language designed for the development of dynamic websites. Especially in the new PHP version 8.3, it offers a flexible environment for creating interactive web applications. With its easy integration into HTML and seamless co-operation with databases, PHP enables developers to create powerful web content. Created in 1994, PHP is now used by developers worldwide and has established itself as one of the most widely used programming languages on the web.

PHP has continued to evolve over the years and is therefore still a widely used programming language on the web today, which has become even better with PHP version 8.3.

What new features does PHP version 8.3 offer?

As the PHP Group writes on its own website, PHP version 8.3 is a minor update of the PHP language. A minor update means that there are fewer changes than in a major update. However, the changes and improvements in PHP version 8.3 are quite extensive. In addition to the usual bug fixes and cleanups, there are also performance optimisations. Furthermore, the new features include not only the typing of class constants, but also the cloning of read-only properties and the expansion of random generators. – We have summarised the most important changes in PHP version 8.3 for you:

Typed class constants

In PHP version 8.3, class constants, including interface, trait and enum constants, can be typed. This prevents unintentional type mismatches and enables more precise declarations.

Dynamic retrieval of class constants and enum members

PHP 8.3 facilitates the dynamic retrieval of class constants and enum members, which makes the code more readable and easier to maintain.

New #[\Override] attribute

The introduction of the #[\Override] attribute helps developers to ensure that a method actually replaces a higher-level method. This prevents changes to the base class from leading to errors.

Cloning of read-only properties

In PHP version 8.3, read-only properties can be changed within the __clone method, which increases flexibility when working with objects.

New json_validate() function

The json_validate() function enables an efficient syntactic check of JSON data without consuming the entire memory for decoding.

New methods Randomiser::getBytesFromString(), getFloat() and nextFloat()

The Randomiser class has been extended with useful methods, including getBytesFromString() for generating random strings and getFloat() / nextFloat() for the safe generation of floating point numbers.

Other minor changes

PHP version 8.3 also brings a number of improvements, including new methods for DOMElement and IntlCalendar, new LDAP functions, mb_str_pad() for multibyte strings and more.

Deprecated functions in PHP 8.3

Some functions, such as U_MULTIPLE_DECIMAL_SEPARATORS and assert settings, have been marked as obsolete and should therefore be avoided.

Brief summary of the new features of PHP version 8.3

These listed innovations make PHP 8.3 a powerful and user-friendly version that offers developers additional tools and possibilities. Therefore, you should definitely try out PHP version 8.3 for yourself, which is of course possible with FireStorm!

PHP version 8.3 offers numerous major and minor innovations, which we have briefly summarised for you in this article.

Would you like to find out more about the new features of PHP version 8.3?

Then take a look at the official website of the PHP Group. There you will find the release report of PHP version 8.3 as well as the detailed changelog of PHP version 8.3. If you have any further questions about PHP version 8.3 and the web servers at FireStorm, you can contact us at FireStorm at any time!