>_ phpunit.expert

Interactive online training

What is new in PHP?

Every autumn brings a new PHP version, and with it a long list of changes. In four hours you learn which of them matter for your code, why they were built the way they were, and how to prepare for them.

Online via Zoom Live & interactive
2 sessions 2 hours each
In English Once a year, after the release
399 EUR included in the flat rate

The idea

Not just what. Above all why.

Every autumn PHP gets a new version: new language features, extended functionality, and optimisations you benefit from without touching a single line of code. The release notes read like a changelog. What is missing there is the context.

This training offers a concise yet comprehensive overview of the past year's developments in the PHP ecosystem. We do not just list the changes, we dive into the why behind them: which problem does a new feature solve? Why was it designed this way and not another? And what does that mean for the code you write today?

Sebastian has been following the development of PHP up close for more than two decades. You learn how the discussions behind the RFCs went and what their outcome means in practice.

The programme

Two sessions, two perspectives

The first session looks at the new version, the second one at your code. Two hours each, live and interactive. Your questions are explicitly welcome.

Session 01

What is new

2 hours
New features & changes under the hood
  • What happened around PHP last year, and which part of it is relevant for you?
  • Which new language features are there, and which problem do they really solve?
  • Why was a feature implemented this way and not another?
  • What has changed under the hood without you having to do anything for it?
Session 02

What it means for your code

2 hours
Deprecations & migration
  • Which functions and constructs are newly deprecated, and how much time do you have left?
  • How do you get to the new version without blowing up your release plan?
  • Where is it worth migrating existing code to a new feature, and where is it not?
  • How do you keep your codebase so that the next version change is not a surprise?

Who it is for

Everyone who works with PHP

This training is for anyone interested in staying up to date with the latest developments in the PHP project. It covers the new features of this year's PHP version and assumes nothing more than a basic familiarity with previous versions.

What you take away

  • You know the new language features of PHP and are able to apply them
  • You understand which problem they solve and why they were designed that way
  • An overview of the current developments in the PHP ecosystem
  • A strategy for preparing your code for the new PHP version

What you bring

  • Experience in software development with PHP
  • Basic familiarity with previous PHP versions, nothing more is required
  • A codebase in mind that you want to move to the new version
  • Curiosity about what happens in the PHP project and why

Your trainer

Sebastian Bergmann

Sebastian Bergmann

Sebastian is the creator of PHPUnit, the de facto standard for testing PHP code. As a consultant, trainer, and co-founder of thePHP.cc he has been helping teams build maintainable, well-tested software for more than two decades.

He has followed the development of PHP since its early days and knows which changes make a difference in practice and which only sound good. You get that assessment here first-hand, with room for your questions.

Sebastian Bergmann answering a participant's question at the laptop
Sebastian in conversation with participants at a workshop. Photo: Filip Kovačević

Registration

399 EUR per person

Two interactive live sessions of two hours each, as a Zoom meeting. Small group, current version, your questions.

Next date: