Notable enhancements include:
- Core Improvements: The addition of the PHP_BUILD_PROVIDER constant and fixes related to non-userland stream notifiers and comparison issues.
- Curl Enhancements: New support for CURLINFO_CONN_ID and CURLINFO_QUEUE_TIME_T, alongside additional SSL signature algorithms.
- FPM Configuration: A new log_limit option to configure FPM access logs.
- Internationalization: Fixes to the resourcebundle count handler and issues affecting shared ext-intl builds.
- Mandatory OPcache: OPcache has been made a mandatory component, addressing various bugs and disallowing changes to memory consumption once shared memory is established.
- OpenSSL Updates: Introduction of the $digest_algo parameter for certain encryption functions.
- POSIX Enhancements: Improved error handling for invalid process and limit parameters.
- Standard Library Additions: HEIF/HEIC support and SVG functionality for getimagesize, along with optimizations for html_entity_decode and array_chunk functions.
- URI Handling: Enhanced error handling for empty URIs and host management.
In summary, PHP 8.5.0 Alpha 4 brings significant enhancements across multiple extensions and core functionalities, focusing on improving user experience, performance, and stability. Developers are encouraged to test this alpha release and provide feedback as the PHP community continues to work towards a stable 8.5.0 release. Future iterations are likely to refine these features further, addressing any remaining bugs and enhancing performance even more
PHP 8.5.0 Alpha 4 released
Daniel Scherzer has announced the fourth alpha version of PHP 8.5.0, featuring a range of enhancements. The updates encompass the addition of clone-with support to the clone() function, resolution of non-userland stream notifiers, introduction of the PHP_BUILD_PROVIDER constant, configuration of the FPM access log limit via log_limit, correction of an incorrect comparison with php_stream_can_cast(), adjustment of the return value on failure for the resourcebundle count handler, prevention of changes to opcache.memory_consumption when SHM is already established, establishment of OPcache as a mandatory component, and rectification of issues GH-15074, GH-15074, GH-17422, OPcache build failure, and GH-19301. Furthermore, the standard version incorporates HEIF/HEIC support for getimagesize, SVG support for getimagesize() and related functions, an optimized PHP html_entity_decode function, minor enhancements to array_chunk(), and support for empty URIs with Uri\Rfc3986\Uri.
