PHP being the hot favorite for developers to build a web application, now has a major update, PHP 7. Overdue from quite some time now, it is here for you to adopt.
Experts have been debating about its effectiveness and worthiness since the time it has taken the center stage. However, developers have found firm reasons to back the new version and upgrade to it at the earliest before the previous 5.7 version becomes obsolete.
The new version embodies new features that’ll aid developers in making things simpler. Most widely used web programming language, PHP has gained immense popularity in the past and now with new features and more advanced capabilities, it is likely to storm the technology sphere once again. Critics have raised several issues demoralizing its advent. But, software developers around the globe have united to trust its competence and performance coefficient. And despite a few inconsistencies, they believe it is advanced and more powerful than ever.
In this article, we introduce you to the newest version of the power-packed language, PHP 7 along with the reasons that why it’s worth upgrading.
10 reasons why you need to upgrade to PHP 7
1. Enhanced performance
The performance coefficient of PHP 7 has been levelled up with higher data processing and the potential of taking load than its previous versions. A series of tests were performed in the same regard proving the capabilities of PHP 7. Refer to the image below, requests per second were twice in the case of PHP 7 as compared to the requests in the case of PHP 5.6- clearly showing what the new version is capable of.
Image Source: eduonix.com
Due to PHP 7, a significant rise in the performance of WordPress 3.6 was seen. A single WordPress request on PHP 7 was executed with the help of just 25 million CPU instructions while the same request took over 100 million instructions when performed on PHP 5.6.
This raised performance level was encountered when the tests were performed for Drupal, another popular content management system and the results were encouraging. The request time was way lower than what was observed earlier with PHP 5.6. Drupal 7 powered by PHP 7 responded to 316 requests in a second which in the case of PHP 5.6 dropped down to just 182 requests/second.
It all accounts for a smoother and a seamless user experience with an added advantage of WordPress and Drupal websites being developed easily and quickly- consuming less time and effort.
2. Return Types
This is the most debatable feature that the new version of PHP is finally going to have, making lives of programmers much easier. The concern was related to the return types as the programmers when working on PHP 5.6 were not allowed to specify the type of the variable being returned by a specific function. But with PHP 7, PHP developers can explicitly declare the return type of the variable. This makes the code readable letting the programmer understand what’s happening especially when it is written by someone else.
3. Scalar Type Hints
Yes, we have this covered too in the new PHP 7 version. This functionality was due from quite some time now and with the system being potent to handle on its own, it’ll help in reducing the load of developers.
Let’s understand it by an example, let’s say you passed int(7) into a function that demanded you to enter a float value, the system will automatically convert the value to float(7.0) and vice-versa. If float (7.1) is passed to an integer demanding function then the value will automatically be changed to int(7).
4. Spaceship or Combined Comparison Operator
The Spaceship operator (<=>) has been included in the PHP 7, which is also known as Combined Comparison operator that commands greater-than and less-than operators quite brilliantly. The expressions can be compared quickly with this operator and it works well with integers, floats and arrays.
Here’s an example of how it works,
x <=> y
If x is less than y, the output is -1
If x is equal to y, the output is 0
If x is greater than y, the output is 1
5. Increased load capacity
With the increase in the performance coefficient, it can bear much more load than earlier. The hosts who move to PHP 7 and wish to input more consumer data can do it in a sublime fashion. The shift to PHP 7 from the previous version is smooth and the level has been raised considerably to meet the demands of PHP developers. Additionally, due to revision in internal data structures, the memory space has also been increased.
6. Asynchronous programming
It is now possible to perform tasks in an asynchronous fashion with PHP 7, which is certainly a help for the developers and PHP development companies that were kept afar of this necessary feature. The inclusion of this capability means that multiple requests can be handled simultaneously by a single PHP event. The standalone multi-threading support of PHP 7 makes the use of single memory bank for multiple requests at the same time.
7. Platform independent
Another major worry of programmers that PHP 7 dismisses is the conversion of instructions sent to the compiler as per the platforms. There is no need to convert the instructions written for one platform to get familiar with another platform. You can now send them directly to the compiler you wish to, without worrying about the platform’s type. This is a major update allowing developers to get rid of the unnecessary and time-wasting task of customizing the same set of instructions for varied platforms.
8. Mobile friendly
PHP 7 adds value to the lives of developers by facilitating even the trivial tasks that were a nightmare for them a couple of years ago. With the rising mobile device users, it’s important for PHP development companies to access what the market demand is and how well it is being met by the businesses around the globe. PHP 7 contributes to the society of mobile device users with reduced memory, energy consumption and engine improvements.
9. Perfect for online businesses
There are several advantages, which PHP 7 brings to the table especially for the big giants of technology space. Considering e-commerce stores with millions of fields of data and traffic to manage every month, it becomes quite tedious to achieve the desired results. But with PHP 7 things have worked out quite nicely. The improved performance and optimal utilization of implemented resources have allowed businesses to carry out operations in the sleekest way possible. PHP 7 is at par with HHVM (HipHop Virtual Machine) taking a marginal edge over it when WordPress is the primary CMS.
10. More Secure than predecessors
The improvement done is not just limited to its performance, speed, load capacity, scalar and return types but extends to levitating security of the produced apps. Due to the efforts of experts behind the stage, it is quite difficult to write poor and insecure code by default. If by chance that happens due to developer’s carelessness or less familiarity with the framework, you have advanced tools for serialization and cryptography that add to the security big time. Hackers have managed to cause worries for the developers who work on the previous PHP versions. However, PHP 7 being relatively new, there are fewer known ways to identify and exploit the weak areas.
If you have deployed WordPress as a content management system, then it is advised to keep it up to date because with every new release fresh fixes are made to the security of the system.
Closure
It’s an undeniable fact that PHP 7 is much faster, powerful and secure than its predecessors. The improvements done will have a crucial effect to the end results and would allow businesses to cater to their users in the best way possible. However, this shift from PHP 5.6 to PHP 7 won’t be a cakewalk. You, as a developer need to take care of the proceedings by checking carefully for the inconsistencies and compatibility issues that might arise. Even after the switch you might encounter issues, but don’t lose your cool and take necessary actions to demolish the same.
A cautious effort in this regard can be beneficial for you in the long run and with PHP 5.6 becoming obsolete with time, it would be a mandatory task to switch to the latest version, so why not do it now in a vigilant manner.
To make things work for you in the desired fashion, you need to get in touch or hire PHP developers who have considerable hands on experience, are familiar with the technology and tools prevalent in the market. So, without any further delay ask your technical partner to proceed with the switching process because sooner or later it has to be done.
Heena Banga
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