PHP in 2025: From Unsafe to Modern
45sShows the dramatic evolution of PHP from old unsafe code to modern typed code, appealing to both nostalgic devs and newcomers.
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This video demonstrates how to write modern PHP code in 2025, moving from old, unsafe, untyped code to a clean, typed, and robust style. The presenter shows key features like visibility, type declarations, readonly classes, property promotion, and final classes.
Chapters
[00:00]
Old PHP vs Modern PHP
Old PHP was unsafe, untyped, and verbose. The video aims to show how to write modern PHP in 2025.
[00:23]
Visibility Modifiers
Replace 'var' with 'private' for properties and add 'public' to functions to make visibility explicit.
[00:34]
Type Declarations
PHP is fully typed. Add type hints to properties (string, int) and function return types.
[01:14]
Strict Types
Add 'declare(strict_types=1);' to enforce strict type checking, e.g., rejecting a string where an int is expected.
[01:28]
Readonly Classes
Use 'readonly' modifier on a class to prevent state mutation. Properties can then be made public, eliminating getters.
[01:57]
Property Promotion
Declare visibility and type directly on constructor arguments, removing redundant property assignments.
[02:27]
Final Classes
Mark classes as 'final' to prevent inheritance, favoring composition over inheritance.
[02:52]
Modern PHP Tooling
PHP has improved tooling: PHPStan (like TypeScript), Pint (linting), and Pest (testing).
Modern PHP in 2025 is a fully typed, robust language with features like readonly classes, property promotion, and final classes. The presenter encourages viewers to explore further and try PHP at php.new.
Clickbait Check
85% Legit"Title says 2026 but video covers 2025 features; still delivers on modern PHP improvements."
Mentioned in this Video
Tutorial Checklist
6
02:00
Use property promotion: declare visibility and type on constructor arguments, remove property assignments.
Study Flashcards (6)
What keyword replaces 'var' for properties in modern PHP?
easy
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What keyword replaces 'var' for properties in modern PHP?
easy
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private
00:23
How do you enforce strict type checking in PHP?
easy
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How do you enforce strict type checking in PHP?
easy
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Add 'declare(strict_types=1);' at the top of the file.
01:14
What does the 'readonly' modifier do on a class?
medium
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What does the 'readonly' modifier do on a class?
medium
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It prevents mutation of properties after initialization.
01:28
What is property promotion in PHP?
medium
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What is property promotion in PHP?
medium
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Declaring visibility and type directly on constructor arguments, eliminating separate property declarations and assignments.
02:00
What does the 'final' keyword do on a class?
easy
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What does the 'final' keyword do on a class?
easy
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It prevents the class from being extended (inherited).
02:27
Name two modern PHP tools mentioned in the video.
medium
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Name two modern PHP tools mentioned in the video.
medium
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PHPStan (static analysis) and Pint (linting).
02:52
💡 Key Takeaways
📊
PHP is fully typed
Contrary to common belief, PHP supports full type declarations similar to TypeScript or Rust.
00:34
🔧
Readonly classes for immutability
Using 'readonly' simplifies code by allowing public properties and removing getters.
01:28
🔧
Property promotion reduces boilerplate
Property promotion significantly reduces code verbosity in value objects.
02:00
⚖️
Final classes favor composition
Marking classes as final encourages composition over inheritance, a best practice.
02:27Full Transcript
[00:00] Let's be honest, some of you haven't
[00:01] used PHP for 20 years now. And probably
[00:03] back in the days, it would look
[00:04] something like this. Everything was
[00:06] unsafe. Things were untyped, insanely
[00:09] verbose. So on this video, I'm going to
[00:11] show you how can you move from this into
[00:14] PHP in 2025. My name is Noo-Noo and
[00:17] welcome to my channel. Just like in C or
[00:19] Java, you can also assign visibility to
[00:21] properties in functions in PHP. So let's
[00:23] start by that and replacing this var
[00:25] with something like private. And then
[00:27] every time we have a function, let's
[00:28] make explicit that this function is
[00:29] public by assigning the visibility
[00:31] public to this functions. Next, unlike
[00:34] you might think, PHP just like
[00:35] TypeScript or Rust is also fully typed.
[00:38] Meaning that I can go to this properties
[00:39] and I can type them. Let's type here
[00:41] that this name is a string but also this
[00:43] age is an integer. We can do the same
[00:45] thing not only on the arguments but also
[00:47] on properties. Let's go all the way up
[00:49] and say that this name is a string and
[00:51] this age is an integer. but also in the
[00:53] getters. Every time I get the name, it
[00:55] will be a string, but also every time I
[00:57] get an age, this will be an integer. So,
[01:00] PHP in 2025 is equally fully typed. Hey,
[01:03] just a quick pause to say that I have
[01:05] this dream of reaching 100K subscribers
[01:07] and still be talking about PHP. So, if
[01:09] you enjoy this video just a little bit,
[01:11] go all the way down, subscribe this
[01:12] channel, and like this video. Now, if
[01:14] you want to be a little bit more strict
[01:15] about types, you can go all the way top
[01:17] and add this declare strict types one.
[01:19] What this will do is that even if you
[01:21] provide a string with a value zero, PHP
[01:24] won't accept it because it needs to be
[01:26] explicitly an integer value. Now this
[01:28] class is the value object. So we don't
[01:30] actually plan to change the state
[01:32] inside. So what we can do is instruct
[01:34] PHP about that and use this readonly
[01:36] modifier before the class to instruct
[01:38] PHP that the state will never change.
[01:41] And in fact, if we try to mutate the
[01:43] name or the H, PHP will prevent that
[01:45] from happening thanks to the readonly
[01:47] keyword. And not that the state can
[01:48] change, what we can do is actually make
[01:50] these properties fully public because
[01:52] they cannot change anyways. Meaning that
[01:53] we can go all the way down and also
[01:55] remove all these getters. There is a few
[01:57] more things we can do to make this code
[01:59] a little bit better. One of them is
[02:00] called property promotion. So when you
[02:02] are providing arguments to a constructor
[02:05] and those arguments will be assigned
[02:06] directly to properties. What you can do
[02:08] is assign those properties directly on
[02:10] those arguments. So what I will do here
[02:12] is declare the visibility of the name
[02:14] directly on the argument and do the same
[02:16] thing with the age. And by doing this we
[02:18] can effectively remove this code but
[02:20] also this code making effectively the
[02:22] guest class looking as beautiful as
[02:25] this. Now there is one final thing you
[02:27] can do to favor composition instead of
[02:29] inheritance which is marking classes as
[02:32] final especially classes that you want
[02:34] to strictly forbid them for being
[02:35] inherited. So what you can do is add
[02:37] this final keyword meaning that if
[02:39] someone were to extend this class, PHP
[02:42] will prevent that from happening. Now
[02:44] that was just a small example in PHP in
[02:46] 20125. There is many things we haven't
[02:48] covered today. Things like enums,
[02:50] attributes, name it arguments and more.
[02:52] If you want to know more about PHP, make
[02:54] sure to subscribe my channel because I'm
[02:55] literally talking about them every
[02:57] single time. Just like any modern
[02:59] language, PHP's tooling have also
[03:01] massively improved in 2025. We have our
[03:04] own TypeScript with PHP stand. We have
[03:06] our own linking with pint but also
[03:09] testing. We have past PHP. Hope this
[03:11] video gives you a different perspective
[03:13] how modern PHP is today. If you want to
[03:15] start with PHP, go to php.new and is
[03:18] literally one command. Hope you enjoyed
[03:20] the video and catch you guys next time.
[03:26] [Music]