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What’s Coming in PHP 8.5 🚀

#php #backend #programming #opensource

Heads-up: PHP 8.5 is still in development; the first General Availability build is slated for 20 November 2025. Nightly tarballs and Docker images (php:8.5.0-dev) are already rolling if you want to experiment.

TL;DR — highlight reel

Area Feature
Language syntax Pipeline operator `
Standard library {% raw %}array_first(), array_last(), new IntlListFormatter, curl_multi_get_handles(), locale_is_right_to_left()
Attributes #[\NoDiscard] + (void) cast
Core tweaks Directory becomes an opaque/final class
Perf / IO Native Zstandard & Brotli compression

The rest of the post dives into each of these with examples and links to the RFCs.

1- New language constructs

1.1 Pipeline operator |>

Approved in February 2025, the pipe feeds the LHS value into the callable on the RHS and evaluates left-to-right.

$result = "Hello World"
    |> htmlentities(...)
    |> str_split(...)
    |> fn($x) => array_map(strtoupper(...), $x)
    |> fn($x) => array_filter($x, fn ($v) => $v !== 'O');

var_dump($result);  // ['H','E','L','L','W','R','D']
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1.2 Records — immutable value objects

The record keyword (RFC under discussion but trending positive) lets you declare by-value, immutable types with almost zero boilerplate.

record Point(int $x, int $y);

$origin = &Point(0, 0);   // the leading “&” signals record instantiation
echo $origin->x;          // 0
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1.3 final in constructor property-promotion

Soon you can mark promoted properties as final, guaranteeing they’ll never change after construction. Voting is already overwhelmingly “yes”.

class User
{
    public function __construct(
        final string $id,
        public string $name,
    ) {}
}
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 1.4 Closures in constant expressions

Static closures are now legal inside const, attribute arguments, and default property/parameter values — handy for default callbacks. Implemented for 8.5.

const DEFAULT_FILTER = static function (mixed $v): bool {
    return !empty($v);
};
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1.5 #[\NoDiscard] + (void) cast

Mark functions whose return value must be consumed; if you really want to ignore it, cast the call to (void) to silence the warning.

#[\NoDiscard('You probably meant to use this')]
function compute(): array
{
    return [...];
}

(void) compute();   // explicitly discard – no warning
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2- Standard-library additions

✨ New API Why you’ll care
array_first() / array_last() Grab the first or last element in O(1) without touching the internal pointer.
curl_multi_get_handles() Enumerate all handles inside a multi-curl resource.
IntlListFormatter Human-friendly lists with i18n (e.g. “apples, pears and peaches”).
locale_is_right_to_left() Quick RTL check without ICU look-ups.
php --ini=diff CLI flag that prints only the INI entries you’ve tweaked.
PHP_BUILD_DATE Exact build timestamp baked into the binary. 
$items = ['🍎','🍐','🍑'];
echo array_first($items); // 🍎
echo array_last($items);  // 🍑
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3- Engine & core library tweaks

3.1 Directory is now opaque

You can no longer new Directory() or clone/serialize one; treat it like the resource object it really is.

$dir = dir('.');
clone $dir;        // Fatal error
new Directory();   // Fatal error
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3.2 Modern compression built-in

Zstandard and Brotli join zlib, giving you fast, web-native compression out of the box.

$zip   = zstd_compress($data);
$plain = brotli_uncompress($zip);
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4- Deprecations

  • All MHASH_* constants are on the chopping block.
  • Expect a fresh round of minor edge-case clean-ups as 8.5 stabilises.

5- Wrap-up

PHP 8.5 isn’t a revolutionary release, but it packs a ton of ergonomic polish:

  • Functional-style pipes for cleaner data flows
  • Boilerplate-free value objects
  • Safer APIs that nudge you away from foot-guns
  • And plenty of small but mighty quality-of-life bumps

Give the nightlies a spin, file bugs, and 🎉 happy hacking!

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