What is new in php 7

PHP 7 was released in December 2015 and brought many significant improvements and new features to the language. Here are some of the most notable changes:

Performance Improvements

  1. Just-In-Time (JIT) Compilation: PHP 7 introduces a Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler, which compiles PHP code into machine code at runtime, resulting in significant performance improvements.
  2. Zend Engine 3: PHP 7 uses the Zend Engine 3, which provides better performance, improved memory management, and enhanced debugging capabilities.
  3. Improved Garbage Collection: PHP 7's garbage collector is more efficient and reduces the time spent on garbage collection.

New Features

  1. Return Type Declarations: PHP 7 introduces return type declarations, which allow developers to specify the expected return type of a function.
  2. Scalar Type Hints: PHP 7 introduces scalar type hints, which allow developers to specify the expected type of a function parameter.
  3. Null Coalesce Operator: The null coalesce operator (??) allows developers to simplify code and avoid null pointer exceptions.
  4. Spaceship Operator: The spaceship operator (<=> ) is a new operator that can be used to compare two values and return -1, 0, or 1 based on the comparison.
  5. Generator Delegation: PHP 7 introduces generator delegation, which allows developers to create generators that delegate to other generators.
  6. Closure::call(): The call() method is a new way to call a closure with a specific context.
  7. Improved Support for Unicode: PHP 7 has improved support for Unicode, including better handling of Unicode characters and improved support for Unicode regular expressions.

Other Changes

  1. Removed Extensions: PHP 7 removed several deprecated extensions, including the mcrypt and mysql extensions.
  2. Improved Error Handling: PHP 7 introduces improved error handling, including better support for error reporting and error handling.
  3. Improved Support for JSON: PHP 7 has improved support for JSON, including better support for JSON encoding and decoding.
  4. Improved Support for XML: PHP 7 has improved support for XML, including better support for XML parsing and manipulation.

Breaking Changes

  1. Removed mysql_ Functions: The mysql_ functions were removed in PHP 7, and developers should use the mysqli or PDO extensions instead.
  2. Removed mcrypt Extension: The mcrypt extension was removed in PHP 7, and developers should use the openssl extension instead.
  3. Removed register_globals: The register_globals setting was removed in PHP 7, and developers should use the $_GET, $_POST, etc. superglobals instead.

Overall, PHP 7 is a significant improvement over previous versions of PHP, with improved performance, new features, and better support for modern web development.