New php features

Here are some of the new features in PHP 7 and later versions:

PHP 7.0 (2015)

  1. Return Type Declaration: You can now specify the return type of a function using the return keyword.
  2. Scalar Type Hints: You can now specify the type of a function parameter using the : symbol.
  3. Null Coalesce Operator: The ?? operator returns the first operand if it exists and is not null; otherwise, it returns the second operand.
  4. Spaceship Operator: The <=> operator is used to compare two values and return an integer indicating their relative order.
  5. Constant Expressions: You can now use constant expressions in PHP, which allows you to define complex constants.

PHP 7.1 (2016)

  1. Class Constant Visibility: You can now specify the visibility of class constants using the public, protected, or private keywords.
  2. Type Widening: PHP 7.1 introduces type widening, which allows you to assign a value of a more specific type to a variable of a less specific type.
  3. Error Handling: PHP 7.1 introduces a new error handling mechanism that allows you to catch and handle errors using try-catch blocks.

PHP 7.2 (2017)

  1. Disallowing Functions with Void Return Type: PHP 7.2 disallows functions with a void return type from returning a value.
  2. Allowing Type Hinting for Type null: You can now specify null as a type hint for a function parameter.
  3. Improved Error Messages: PHP 7.2 introduces improved error messages that provide more information about the error.

PHP 7.3 (2018)

  1. Async/Await Syntax: PHP 7.3 introduces an async/await syntax for writing asynchronous code.
  2. Improved Error Handling: PHP 7.3 introduces improved error handling, including support for custom error handlers.
  3. Type Hinting for mixed: You can now specify mixed as a type hint for a function parameter.

PHP 7.4 (2019)

  1. Fiber Support: PHP 7.4 introduces support for fibers, which allow you to write cooperative multitasking code.
  2. Improved Error Messages: PHP 7.4 introduces improved error messages that provide more information about the error.
  3. Type Hinting for iterable: You can now specify iterable as a type hint for a function parameter.

PHP 8.0 (2020)

  1. Just-In-Time (JIT) Compilation: PHP 8.0 introduces a just-in-time (JIT) compiler that can improve performance.
  2. Improved Error Messages: PHP 8.0 introduces improved error messages that provide more information about the error.
  3. Type Hinting for static: You can now specify static as a type hint for a function parameter.
  4. Improved Support for Unicode: PHP 8.0 introduces improved support for Unicode, including support for Unicode code points.

PHP 8.1 (2021)

  1. Improved Error Messages: PHP 8.1 introduces improved error messages that provide more information about the error.
  2. Type Hinting for callable: You can now specify callable as a type hint for a function parameter.
  3. Improved Support for JSON: PHP 8.1 introduces improved support for JSON, including support for JSON schema validation.

These are just a few of the new features in PHP 7 and later versions. For a complete list of new features and improvements, I recommend checking out the official PHP documentation.