PHP 8.4: New Features Explained with Examples

PHP 8.4 brings new features that make coding easier and faster. Let's look at the main improvements that will help developers write better code.

1. Better Property Control (Asymmetric Visibility)

Before PHP 8.4, when you created a property in a class, it had to be either public (everyone can access it) or private (only the class can access it). Now, you can make properties readable by everyone but only changeable within the class. Here's how it works:

PHP 8.2: Not supported. Properties had uniform visibility for all actions (read, write).

PHP 8.3: Still not available; asymmetric visibility wasn't introduced yet.

This feature allows different visibility levels for reading and writing a property. For instance:

class Book { public private(set) string $title = 'Learning PHP'; } $book = new Book(); echo $book->title; // This works - anyone can read the title $book->title = 'New Book'; // This fails - you can't change the title from outside

This is useful when you want to expose a property for reading but restrict updates to internal logic only.

2. Easier Property Updates (Property Hooks)

PHP 8.4 makes it simpler to work with properties that need special handling when reading or changing them. Instead of writing separate methods, you can now do it directly:

class User { public function __construct( private string $firstName, private string $lastName ) {} public string $fullName { get => "{$this->firstName} {$this->lastName}"; set => [$this->firstName, $this->lastName] = explode(' ', $value, 2); } } $user = new User("John", "Doe"); echo $user->fullName; // Shows "John Doe" $user->fullName = "Jane Smith"; // Updates both first and last name

3. Simpler Object Creation and Method Chaining

PHP 8.4 removes the need for extra parentheses when creating objects and calling their methods. This makes code cleaner and easier to read:

// Old way (PHP 8.3 and earlier): $request = (new Request())->setMethod('GET'); // New way (PHP 8.4): $request = new Request()->setMethod('GET');

Why It’s Useful: Cleaner syntax means improved readability and faster coding, especially in frameworks like Symfony or Laravel where method chaining is common

4. New Array Helper Functions

PHP 8.4 adds useful functions for working with arrays:

New functions like array_find(), array_find_key(), array_all(), and array_any() make working with arrays more expressive:

$array = ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry']; $found = array_find($array, fn($value) => strlen($value) > 5); // "banana".

Real-Life Impact: These functions reduce the need for verbose loops, making them invaluable in handling datasets in e-commerce, APIs, and more.

5. Better HTML5 Support

PHP 8.4 makes it easier to work with modern HTML:

PHP 8.2 and 8.3: Relied on the older DOMDocument class, which lacked robust support for modern HTML5 structures.

PHP 8.4: Introduced the \Dom\HTMLDocument class for smooth parsing and manipulation of HTML5 content:

$doc = \Dom\HTMLDocument::createFromString('

Hello

');

6. Better Text Handling for Different Languages

PHP 8.4 adds new functions that work better with text in different languages:

Functions like mb_trim() and mb_ucfirst() add multibyte string support to existing operations:

PHP 8.2: No support for multibyte operations in certain string functions.

PHP 8.3: Minor updates to string handling but no multibyte support.

$str = " Multibyte Trim "; echo mb_trim($str); // "Multibyte Trim"

These improvements help developers build better websites and applications with less effort. Whether you're building a small website or a large application, PHP 8.4's new features will make your work easier.