PHP 8.3 Coming to IBM i This Year

I had to chuckle when someone at a recent conference seemed surprised that PHP was still a vital force in web and API development. He hadn’t heard much about PHP lately at conferences.

My explanation: “It’s reliable and the major problems have been solved.”

I continued: “There’s a significant PHP update each year, plus monthly fixes. It’s evolving steadily, with attention to backward compatibility, all changes discussed in the open, easy to manage, no surprises.”

To be specific: as of November 2022, the current generally available (GA) release is PHP 8.2. Meanwhile, 8.3 is in the “alpha 2” phase for testing. PHP 8.3 is scheduled to reach GA on November 23, 2023.

Seiden Group will be building each PHP 8.3 alpha and beta release for IBM i through the year, for our own testing and for SmartSupport subscribers who wish to test early. When 8.3 reaches GA in November, we plan to make it available for the whole IBM i community via our Seiden CommunityPlus+ PHP distribution.

As always, let me know if you’d like to set up a complimentary PHP upgrade assessment. We’re happy to help, whether you’re using Seiden’s CP+ PHP or Zend Server.

For more information on the upcoming PHP 8.3:

• Changes in PHP 8.3: https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/master/UPGRADING
• Deprecation discussions: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/deprecations_php_8_3
• PHP Foundation “roundups”: https://thephp.foundation/blog/