PHP 7.4 is now available on all web hosting. It offers better performance, adds new features and removes some older features.
What is PHP?
PHP is a powerful and flexible programming language, specially designed for the creation of dynamic websites. It is used with popular applications such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and Magento.
PHP is an integral part of the most popular hosting architecture (known as LAMP architecture, which means Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP). PHP is also used by popular social media sites such as Facebook and Pinterest.
Improved performance with PHP 7.4
If you are using WordPress or other PHP-based web applications, you will notice a slight increase in overall site performance after upgrading to PHP 7.4 from earlier versions. Although the performance improvement is not as great as that observed between versions 7.2 and 7.3, every detail counts!
Should I upgrade to PHP 7.4?
Upgrading to a newer version of PHP may potentially present incompatibilities with some websites, but it is necessary in the long run to ensure the security and better performance of your site.
Although some sites still work with versions of PHP as old as 5.2, for production websites it is not recommended to use anything other than the latest supported version.
Before taking the plunge and in order to minimize disruptions, it is recommended to update the extensions, themes and applications used on your websites. An obsolete theme or extension could be incompatible with the latest version of PHP, and could cause problems on your site.
What are the next steps for PHP?
PHP 8 is on the horizon, with publication scheduled for December 2020. This is a major update with even more significant changes.
If your website uses PHP, stay tuned in early 2021 to learn more about all the latest features.
