Request for Comments

This page gives an overview of the current RFCs for PHP.

To create a new RFC, see How To Create an RFC.

Note: An RFC is effectively “owned” by the person that created it. If you want to make changes, get permission from the creator. If no agreement can be found, the only course of action is to create a competing RFC. In this case the old RFC page should be modified to become an intermediate page that points to all the competing RFC's.

A new page in this RFC namespace will automatically be loaded with an RFC template. Customize as needed.

This section is for RFCs that have been announced on the PHP “internals” mail list.

• list() Reference Assignment
  This RFC proposes a new syntax to enable reference assignment with list(). (Created 2013/10/25, withdrawn 2014-05-15, Commandeered and Reopened: 2016-12-30)
• HashContext as Object
  Change Hash Contexts to use Objects instead of Resources
• Throwable code's type generalization
  Change Throwable::getCode() & co. so that they can be of any type (Created: 2016-12-18)
• SoapClient getLocation
  Add getLocation method to SoapClient (Created: 2016-12-06)
• Distrust SHA-1 Certificates
  Distrust SHA-1 starting in PHP 7.2 (Created: 2016-11-25)
• Object typehint
  Proposes adding object type-hint and return-type (Created: 2016-08-12)
• ArrayIterator improvements
  Proposes adding ArrayIterator::seekKey() and ArrayIterator::prev() (Created: 2016-11-21)
• Parameter No Type Variance
  Allow subclasses to drop parameter type constraints. (Created: 2016-11-21)
• Abolish Narrow Margins
  Proposal to abolish 50%+1 votes (Created 2016-11-17)
• Deprecations for PHP 7.2
  Functions and features to be deprecated in PHP 7.2 (Created 2015-12-28)
• Namespace-scoped declares
  Add ability to specify declare directives at the namespace level. (Created: 2016-09-20)
• Improve uniqid() uniqueness.
  Improve uniqid() uniqueness (Created: 2016-09-12)
• Deprecate PEAR/PECL & Replace with composer/pickle
  Proposes replacing pear/pecl with composer/pickle (Created: 2016-09-01)
• umaintained_extensions
  Cleaning up unmaintained extensions
• remove_utf_8_decode_encode
  Remove utf8_decode() and utf8_encocde()
• Add str_begins() and str_ends() functions
  Add functions to check if a string begins with, or ends with, a given substring (Created 2016-08-01)
• Exception on constant redefintion
  Throw Exception on Attempt of Constant Redefinition (Created 2016-06-10)
• array_change_keys()
  Add method to simplify re-keying an array (Created 2016-05-29)
• Intersection Types (Discussion began 2016-04-28)
• Anonymous Class Lexical Scope
  Anonymous Class Lexical Scope (Created 2016-04-19)
• Callable constructors
  Allow constructors to be called as a callable (Created 2015-02-25)
• Traits with interfaces
  Allow traits to explicitly implement interfaces (Created 2016-02-17)
• Adopt Code of Conduct
  This RFC proposes that the PHP project should adopt a formal code of conduct for its members. (Re-created 2016-01-21)
• Class Friendship
  A proposal to add class friendship (Created 2015-12-10)
• Normalize token_get_all() output
  Allows specifying flag to normalize output of token_get_all()
• On-demand Name Mangling
  Replaces automatic super-global name mangling with an on-demand approach for those apps requiring it. (Updated 2016-01-08)
• Add array_key_(first|last|index) functions
  Add functions to get the first/last/indexed array key and value. (Created 2016-01-01)
• Secure serialization by authentication code
  Add authentication code protection to serialization.
• Default Value in List Assignment Syntax
  Allow set default values when using list assignment
• Trailing commas in list syntax
  Allow for trailing commas in all list syntax (Created 2015-11-03)
• Automatic SQL injection protection
  This RFC enables automatic detection of SQL queries that are issued with a non-constant query parameter-string, with configurable evasive action on detection (i.e. ignore/log/throw).
• Improved Error Callback Mechanism
  This RFC aims to give extensions that intercept errors a better way to register their callbacks. (Created 2015-03-13)
• Introduce consistent function names
  This RFC proposes to have consistent function names that accord CORDING_STANDARDS.
• Introduce Design by Contract
  This RFC is vote only RFC for 2 Design by Contract introduction proposals.
• Native Design by Contract support as annotation
  This RFC proposes native Design by Contract support to PHP (Created 2015/02/04)
• Native Design by Contract support as definition
  This RFC proposes native Design by Contract support to PHP (Created 2015/02/10)
• Introduce script only require/include
  Introduce script only include/require to prevent script inclusion. (Created 2015-02-10)
• Precise URL include control
  This RFC proposes precise URL include control.
• Comparable
  A proposal to add a Comparable interface for userspace object comparisons.
• Deprecate INI set/get aliases
  This RFC proposes INI set/get alias function deprecation. (Created 2015-01-28)
• Additional splat operator usage
  Allow splat operator to be used in array literals. (Created 2014-11-03)
• GitHub Pull Requests Triage Team
  Define a process for triaging GitHub pull requests. (Created 2014-10-30)
• Change checkdnsrr() $type argument behavior
  This RFC proposes that the default behavior of the checkdnsrr() function be changed such that it no longer checks only for MX records by default. (Created 2014-09-19)
• Loosening heredoc/nowdoc scanner
  More permissive scanner rules for heredoc/nowdoc (Created 2014-08-29)
• Binary String Comparison
  Non-strict binary string comparison
• password_hash function behavior
  Current password_hash()'s hash function has password length limitation. (Created 2014-07-23)
• ReflectionParameter Typehint accessors
  New API for accessing typehints on a reflection parameter.
• Secure Session Options
  This RFC proposes secure options for session module as default (Vote period: 2014/02/14 - 2014/02/21) (Created: 2014/02/01)
• Unify crypto source INI setting
  This RFC proposes unified crypto source settings. (Created 2014/02/13)
• Make PHP open tag optional for better security
  This RFC proposes option (php.ini and CLI opts) for removing PHP tags (<?php and so forth) from PHP scripts.(Vote period: 2014/02/16 - 2014/02/22) (Created 2012/04/12)
• Build OpenSSL module by default
  This RFC proposes building openssl module by default.
• Module API introspection
  Developer/Operations command-line API for checking module versions (Created 2014/01/24)
• Add support for GMP floating point numbers
  Separate out floating point change from gmp_number (Created 2014/01/04)
• Normalizing increment and decrement operators
  This RFC proposes to make ++ and – operators to work more intuitively. (Created 2013-12-19)
• Named Parameters
  This RFC proposes introducing named parameters. (Created 2013/09/06)
• Internal Serialize API
  This RFC proposes API for internal generating of serialization. (Created 2013/07/27)
• unset(): return bool if the variable has existed
  Add to unset a return value if the deletion was successful (Created 2013/03/06)
• Integrate voting polls in PHP.net
  This RFC talks about integration of voting polls into PHP.net (Created 2013/02/23)
• Escaping RFC for PHP Core
  Implementing a core anti-XSS escaping class and possibly functions for the more procedurally inclined programmers. (Created 2012/09/18)
• Add is_cacheable() stream-wrapper operation
  Adds a generic way for opcode caches to determine if a given URI is cacheable or not. (Created 2015/01/03)
• Add cyclic string replace to str_[i]replace() functions (Created 2015/01/05)
• Add generic class and method support (Created 2015/04/28)
• Add resource typehint (Created 2015/11/11)
• Short Ternary Assignment Operator
  Allow shorthand for self assigning short ternary expressions (Created: 2016-03-10)
• Pipe Operator
  Syntactic sugar for chaining expressions (Created: 2016-04-29)
• Allow loading extensions by name (Created: 2016-05-10)
• Simple Annotations (Created: 2016-05-13)
• Libsodium
  Make Libsodium a Core Extension (Created 2016-01-07)

This section is for early drafts of RFCs that have NOT been announced on the PHP “internals” mail list.

• Comparison Chains
  Implement arbitrary chaining of comparator operations
• Binary String Deprecation
  Proposes the deprecation of the b prefix and binary cast (Created: 2016-12-11)
• Create URLParser and URLBuilder Classes
  Proposed improvement beyond what parse_url() allows Created: 2016-10-04)
• Comparator interface
  Proposes introduction of Comparator interface (Created: 2016-09-27)
• Immutable classes and properties
  Proposes introduction of immutable classes and properties (Created: 2016-08-12)
• Arrow Functions
  A short form of closures similar to ES6's arrow functions (Created: 2016-08-14)
• Automatic CSRF protection
  Extend session module to provide automatic CSRF protection (Created 2016-05-10)
• Extending Exception backtraces to provide 'object'
  Extending Exception backtraces to provide 'object' (Created 11/04-2016)
• Add foreach iteration of keys without values
  Add new syntax to enable foreach iteration without retrieving values (Created 2016-01-09)
• Consistent callables
  Consistent Callables (Created 2015-09-28)
• Enumerated Types
  A proposal to add enumerated types (Created 2015-04-08)
• Type Affinity
  This RFC proposes type affinity for inputs
• Parser Extension API
  This RFC proposes a userland API to fetch an AST for code and to provide parser extensions (Created 2015/02/17)
• Nullsafe operator
  This RFC proposes a new operator for propagating forward failures in a computation composed of method calls without the need for lots of boilerplate. (Created 2014-12-09)
• Support linking in stream wrappers
  Add support for links in stream wrappers by adding appropriate hooks
• Normalize string bitwise shifts
  Bitwise shifts to operate on string bytes instead of casting to integer.
• Consistent names for legacy functions/classes
  This RFC proposes to use alias to provide both legacy and consistent names.
• Inconsistent behaviors
  This RFC is to discuss/document inconsistent behaviors.
• Platform and extension-independent API to the system CSPRNG
  Request for Comments: Platform and extension-independent API to the system CSPRNG.
• Loop+Else control structure
  This RFC proposes an optional “else” clause that can be used after while, for, and foreach loops.
• Make the PHP core case-sensitive
• Restrict parameter parsing rules
  Restrict rules to accept and implicitely convert internal function input arguments.
• Sourcemaps
  Add support for Source Maps Revision 3
• Static class constructor
  Introduce a class constructor to initialize class state
• Property Type-hints
  Introduce optional static type-hints and type-checking for properties.
• Simplified Named Arguments
  Introduce syntax for named arguments
• Typesafe Callable
  Allow typesafe callables (Created 2016-04-04)

• Security Issue Classification
  Ratify reformed security issue classification. (Accepted 2016-11-18)
• PHP 5 Support Timeline
  Determine the Active & Support timelines for PHP 5.
• Reserve Even More Types in PHP 7
  A proposal to reserve even more type names in PHP 7 (Created 2015-02-20)
• PHP 7.0 Timeline
  Define an agreed-upon timeline and milestones for PHP 7.0.
• Keeping the tests green
  This RFC proposes a policy for keeping PHP CI tests green.
• Define PHP 5.3 end of life
  The purpose of this RFC is to define when the PHP 5.3 series will no longer be supported.
• Release Process
  PHP release process.
• Voting Process
  PHP voting process.
• Magic Quotes
  This RFC proposes how we deal with magic quotes from PHP 5.3.0 to 6.0.0.
• Choosing a distributed version control system for PHP
  This RFC proposes to migrate the PHP SVN repo to a DVCS.
• PHP Version Control System
  This RFC discusses the switch from CVS to some other version tracking system
• Name of Next Release of PHP
  To settle what the name of the next major release of PHP shall be. (Created 2014-07-05)

• APXS LoadModule
  This RFC proposes the addition of an option to the configure script that allows the user to specify whether the main Apache .conf file should be appended with the LoadModule entry.
• DateTime and Daylight Saving Time Transitions
  Defines expected behaviors and new features to improve how DateTime handles Daylight Saving Time transitions.
• Null Coalesce Equal Operator
  Allow shorthand for self assigning null coalesce operator (Created 2016-03-09)
• E_WARNING for invalid containers
  Raise E_WARNING for array access on invalid containers (Created 2016-07-27)

Order in these sections: Language changes first, library changes later.

• Debugging PDO Prepared Statement Emulation v2
  Another approach to allowing the output of this feature to be examined in userland. (Created: 2016-11-17)
• Convert numeric keys in object/array casts
  Fix an edge case in casting objects to arrays and vice-versa. (Created: 2016-10-21)
• get_class() disallow null parameter
  Prevent get_class() having astonishing behaviour
• Counting of non-countable objects
  Raise a warning when counting invalid objects. (Created: 2016-10-04)
• Deprecate png2wbmp() and jpeg2wbmp()
  Deprecate and later remove the png2wbmp() and jpeg2wbmp() functions. (Created: 2016-10-15)
• Implement socket_getaddrinfo()
  Implement getaddrinfo() to socket extension. (Created: 2016-08-08)
• Argon2 in password hash
  Introduce Argon2 hashing algorithm to password functions (Created: 2016-07-10)
• Debugging PDO Prepared Statement Emulation
  Allow the output of this feature to be examined in userland. (Created: 2016-10-17)

• Session ID without hashing
  Remove hash usage from session ID generation. (Created 2016-04-06)
• Asynchronous Signal Handling
  Asynchronous Signal Handling without TICKs and any additional overhead. (Created 2016-06-24)
• Fix inconsistent behavior of $this variable
  Fix all known inconsistencies related to special variable $this (Discussion began 2016-05-23)
• Replace "Missing argument" warning with "Too few arguments" exception
  (Created 2016-06-01)
• Nullable Types
  Allow a type check to be of some type or null (Discussion began 2016-04-13)
• Square bracket syntax for array destructuring assignment
  An alternative syntax to list() (Created 2016-04-07)
• Warn about invalid strings in arithmetic
  Produce E_NOTICE or E_WARNING when using invalid numeric strings with arithmetic operators (Created 2016-01-08)
• Allow specifying keys in list()
  Adds syntax to help unpacking associative arrays into variables (Created 2016-01-17)
• Iterable
  Iterable pseudo-type accepting arrays or objects implementing Traversable (Created 2016-06-10)
• Generalize support of negative string offsets
  Add support for negative string offsets everywhere it makes sense (Created 2016-01-23)
• Closure from callable function
  Add a function to create closures from callables without reflection
• Deprecate mb_ereg_replace eval option
  This RFC aims at deprecating the e option that mb_ereg_replace and mb_eregi_replace provide.
• Deprecate (and remove) Mcrypt
  Let's get rid of ext/mcrypt, which is abandonware and inhibits the growth of the language, as soon as humanly possible. (Created 2016-01-09)
• OpenSSL AEAD support
  Adds support for AEAD cipher modes (GCM and CCM) to openssl_decrypt and openssl_encrypt.
• Void Return Type
  Adds a void return type to require that a function does not return a value. (Revived 2015-10-04, originally created 2015-02-14)
• Class constant visibility modifiers
  Introduce class constants visibility modifiers that mirror properties and methods. (Created 2015/09/13)
• Octal Overflow Protection
  Stop quietly ignoring overflows in octal number parsing (Created: 2016-04-12)
• RNG fixes and changes
  Fixes and improvements to the random number generation subsystems (Created 2016-06-14)
• Add HTTP/2 Server Push support to ext/curl (Created 2015/10/01)
• TimeZone::getWindowsID (Created (2016/03/15)
• Multi catch
  Catching multiple exception types in a single catch statement (Created 2016/03/06)
• Forbid dynamic calls to scope introspection functions (Created 2016-05-01)
• Add curl_multi_errno(), curl_share_errno() and curl_share_strerror() (Created: 2016-04-29)
• Throw Error in Extensions
  Convert E_ERROR and E_RECOVERABLE_ERROR to throw Error in extensions (Created 2016-06-14)
• More precise float value handling
  This RFC proposes more precise float value handling.
• Additional Context in pcntl_signal Handler
  Adds a second array argument to pcntl_signal handler (Created 2016-06-14)
• Add session_create_id()
  Add session_create_id() function (Created 2016-04-07)
• Add session_gc()
  Add session_gc() function (Created 2016-04-06)

• Random Functions throwing Exceptions
  This RFC proposes that the random_* functions should throw exceptions on failure.
• Throwable Interface
  Proposes a modification to the exception hierarchy for PHP 7, introducing a Throwable interface and Error class.
• Context Sensitive Lexer
  Proposal to have a context sensitive lexer for PHP with support for semi-reserved words (Created 2015-02-15)
• Add preg_replace_callback_array function
  A RFC proposing each pattern can easily have a specific callback.
• Reliable User-land CSPRNG
  A proposal to add a reliable CSPRNG (Created 2015-02-20)
• Anonymous Class Support
  This RFC proposes support for anonymous classes.
• Generator Delegation
  This RFC proposes new syntax to delegate generator function operations to sub-iterators/generators (Created 2015-03-01)
• Reserve More Type Names in PHP 7
  Reserves int, float, string, bool, true, false and null in class names or namespaces. (Created 2015-02-18)
• Constructor behaviour of internal classes
  Cleanup undesirable behaviour of constructors internal classes. (Created 2015-03-01)
• Reclassify E_STRICT notices
  This RFC proposes to reclassify our few existing E_STRICT notices to different categories. (Created 2015-02-22)
• Remove PHP 4 Constructors
  Stop recognizing methods with the same name as the defining class as constructors. (Created 2014-11-17; Voting closed 2015-03-10)
• Remove the date.timezone warning
  (Created 2015-01-27)
• Combined Comparison (Spaceship) Operator
  Proposes a new comparison operator, <=> (Created 2014-02-12, revived 2015-01-19)
• Fix "foreach" behavior
  The RFC defines foreach statement behavior for the cases where is wasn't defined before and implementation provided inconsistent results. (Created 2015-01-29)
• Removal of dead SAPIs and extensions
  Consideration about removing the unsupported SAPIs and extensions with unsupported dependencies.
• Remove deprecated functionality in PHP 7
  Proposes to remove functionality that has been deprecated in the PHP 5.x cycle in PHP 7. (Created 2014-09-11)
• Jsond
  Whether jsond should replace the current json extension. (Created 2015-01-11)
• Preserve Fractional Part in JSON encode
  Adds a new option for JSON encode to preserve fractional part on float numbers.
• Return Type Declarations
  Adds return types to functions, methods and closures. (Created 2014-03-20)
• Fast Parameter Parsing API
  Fast API in addition to zend_parse_parameters(). (Created 2014-05-23)
• Unicode Codepoint Escape Syntax
  Adds an escape sequence syntax for Unicode codepoints to string literals. (Created 2014-11-24)
• Native TLS
  Native TLS for internal globals in TS mode
• Null Coalesce Operator
  Adds the coalesce operator, ??
• Integer Semantics
  Improves cross-platform consistency in PHP for some operations dealing with integers
• ZPP Failure on Overflow
  Make zend_parse_parameters fail if a float value out of bounds, or NaN, is passed where an integer is expected. (Created 2014-09-22)
• Move the phpng branch into master
  Embrace the phpng codebase as the basis for the future major version of PHP. (Created 2014-07-20)
• Abstract Syntax Tree
  Proposes the introduction of an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) as an intermediary structure in our compilation process.
• Uniform Variable Syntax
  Introduces an internally consistent and complete variable syntax.
• 64 bit platform improvements for string length and integer
  Integer and String modifications for full 64 bit support
• Closure::call
  Proposes a new method on the Closure class to allow calling bound to an object without pre-binding
• Fix list() behavior inconsistency
  Enable or disable string handling in list() operator
• Remove alternative PHP tags
  Removes ASP and script tags
• switch.default.multiple
  Disallow multiple defaults in switch statements
• Catchable "call to a member function of a non-object"
  Turns this fatal error into E_RECOVERABLE (Created 2014-04-26)
• Filtered unserialize()
  Add option to ignore all or some objects to unserialize() (Created 2013/03/30)
• ICU IntlChar class
  Adds an IntlChar class an intl_char_*() functions to the Intl extension.
• Introduce session_start() INI options as array
  Introduce session_start() options
• Remove hex support in numeric strings
  Removes support for hexadecimal numbers in numeric string conversions. (Created 2014-08-19)
• Expectations
  This RFC proposes adding BC zero-cost assertions. (Created 2013-11-01)
• Group Use Declarations
  The RFC adds improvements to current PHP namespace implementation by introducing group use declarations. (Created 2015-01-28)
• Exceptions in the engine
  This RFC proposes to allow the use of exceptions in the engine. (Created 2014-09-30)
• Generator Return Expressions
  This RFC proposes the ability to specify and access return values from Generator functions
• Scalar Type Hints v0.5
  This RFC proposes a mixed-mode scalar type system
• Continue output buffering
  Let the output buffer stack be usable despite an aborted connection
• intdiv()
  This RFC proposes adding an intdiv() function for integer division. (Created 2014-07-15)
• Fix handling of custom session handler return values
  Make false actually mean failure, not success.
• Turn gc_collect_cycles into function pointer
  Proposes to turn gc_collect_cycles into function pointer for extensions to hook into. (Created 2012-12-11)

• __debugInfo() magic method
  Support get_debug_info hook for userspace classes
• Exponential operator
  Exponential operator
• Importing namespaced functions
  Proposes to allow importing namespaced functions through a new `use function` sequence.
• Constant Scalar Expressions (with constants)
  This RFC proposes adding support for Constant Scalar Expressions with support for constants being operands.
• Remove calls from incompatible context
  Calls from incompatible context deprecated in 5.6 (will be removed in next version).
• Dedicated syntax for variadic functions
  This RFC introduces a dedicated syntax for variadic functions.
• Argument unpacking
  This RFC proposes a syntax for argument unpacking.
• Internal operator overloading and GMP improvements
  Add support for operator overloading in internal classes and improve GMP using it
• phpdbg
  Distribute phpdbg with PHP, a PHP debugger
• Slim POST data
  Use a temp PHP stream for HTTP payload.
• Crypt() function salt
  This RFC proposes changing crypt() function's salt parameter treatment.
• Apparmor change_hat functionality for php-fpm
  Proposes to add the possibility to change to a different hat under the apparmor LSM
• TLS Peer Verification
  Enable peer verification by default for encrypted client streams.
• Improved TLS Defaults
  Implement more secure defaults for encrypted stream transfers
• Default character encoding
  Default character encoding handling in PHP.
• 64 bit format codes for pack() and unpack()
  Adds format codes for converting 64 bit integers to and from binary strings.
• Timing attack safe string comparison function
  New function to perform time-constant string comparison (Created 2013/12/22)

• Generators
  This RFC proposes adding generators as a simple and boilerplate-free way of defining iterators.
• support finally keyword
  Add try catch finally supporting
• Resolve class names to scalars via class keyword
  A proposal to use ::class after type names to resolve FQ class names as scalar
• foreach_variable supporting T_LIST
  This extends PHP's language parser to support T_LIST in foreach_variable
• Const array/string dereference
  A little improvement to make things consistent
• Allow arbitrary expression arguments to empty() and isset()
  Proposes to allow empty(getArray()) etc.
• Integrating Optimizer+ into the PHP distribution
  This RFC proposes to integrate the Zend Optimizer+ opcode cache into the PHP distribution
• Adding hash_pbkdf2 function
  This RFC proposes adding a hash_pbkdf2 function to the hash package
• Add Simplified Password Hashing
  This RFC proposes adding 3 new functions to the core to expose a much simplified password hashing API.
• Remove preg_replace /e modifier
  This RFC aims at deprecating and subsequently removing the /e modifier (PREG_REPLACE_EVAL) that preg_replace provides.
• Add UConverter
  A proposal to add ICU::UConverter functionality to ext/intl
• ext/mysql deprecation
  Formally deprecating ext/mysql in PHP.
• Cookie Max-Age attribute
  Cookie Max-Age attribute
• Fix cURL file uploading API
  Fix insecure cURL file uploading API
• Add recvmsg() and sendmsg() to ext/sockets
  Wrap sendmsg() and recvmsg(), with support for a limited number of message types
• PHP CLI changing process title support
  Setting PHP CLI process titles for visibility in 'top' or 'ps'
• Allow non-scalar keys in foreach
  This RFC proposes to remove the type restrictions on foreach iteration
• Add array_column() function
  This RFC proposes a new array function that returns the values of the specified column from a multi-dimensional array.
• Removal of curl-wrappers
  This RFC is about removing the curl stream wrappers of the PHP as of 5.5 and to move it on PECL for any eventual improvements.
• Strict Sessions
  This RFC proposes an additional security measure for preventing session fixation.

Note: Many RFCs in this list have been mass voted.

• Instantiating a class and calling methods/accessing properties on same command
  A proposal to add support to instantiating a class and calling its methods or accessing its properties on same command.
• Traits
  Traits is a mechanism for code reuse in single inheritance languages such as PHP. A Trait is intended to reduce some limitations of single inheritance by enabling a developer to reuse sets of methods freely in several independent classes living in different class hierarchies. This RFC proposes a basic version of Traits.
• Closures: Object Extension
  How to extend closures to work with $this and objects.
• Short syntax for arrays
  This RFC will discuss an language enhancement for simple and easy array definition.
• Function array dereferencing
  You know, like foo()['bar']
• Short tags in templates
  This RFC discusses ways to enable short tags template syntax in a way that would be easy for users and compatible with XML users' requirements.
• Indirect method call by array variable
  $arr = array('Class', 'method'); $arr();
• Supporting Binary Notation for Integers
  This extends PHP's syntax to support binary notation for integers just as it already does for decimal, octal, and hexadecimal representations.
• Built-in web server
  This RFC discusses the web server that is built into PHP itself, for development purpose.
• Removal of deprecated features
  RFC about removing legacy features in the next version of PHP
• Improve parser error messages
  Improve parser error message readability.
• Session upload progress
  Using sessions to provide upload progress feedback to users.
• Object oriented session handlers
  A proposal to allow session_set_save_handler() to accept an object, and expose the original session handler.
• Allow Multiple Simultaneous Syslog Connections
  This RFC propose enhancement to syslog function in order to allow multiple simultaneous connections by using resources.
• Stream meta-data
  RFC defines handler for setting metadata on stream URL.
• Error message formatting for development
  This RFC discusses error message formatting to aid developers.
• Zend Engine Performance Improvements
  Proposes Zend Engine changes which together make up to 20% performance improvement on synthetic benchmarks and some real-life applications
• Run Time Cache
  offers an implementation of run-time caching technique which may improve performance of repeatable code
• Zend Signal Handling
  Improve stability and speed when running under any forking SAPI by adding deferred signal handling to the Zend Engine.
• DTrace Probes for PHP
  Provide DTrace probes for PHP.
• New Output API
  An RFC about the New Output API
• Callable type hint
  Callable type hint
• LDAP: Add ldap_modify_batch
  This RFC proposes adding a lower-level modification function to the LDAP extension.

• Closures
  This RFC proposes Closures and lambda functions for PHP.
• Namespace resolution order
• RFC on what namespace separator to choose
• HEREDOC with double quotes
  This RFC is about allowing double quote syntax similar to single-quotes in NOWDOC as a HEREDOC syntax variant (in PHP 5.3)
• LSB parent::/self:: forwarding
  Changes how parent:: and self:: work with LSB by making them forwarding.
• call_time_pass_by_reference
  This RFC proposes that call_time_pass_by_reference be switched off by default in PHP 5.3.
• New error level E_USER_DEPRECATED
  This RFC proposes to introduce a new userspace error level similar to E_DEPRECATED for user level deprecation warnings
• Rounding in PHP
  Make round() produce predictable results on all platforms and fix some problems in the process.
• Alternative to include/require for autoloaders
  This RFC aims to offer an alternative solution to the well known fopen() “hack” used in autoloaders in order to verify the existence of files inside the include path
• FPM SAPI
  This RFC discusses FPM SAPI and its inclusion to the core PHP distribution.
• FPM INI syntax
  This RDV discusses the replacement of FPM configuration file from XML to INI.
• New INI Files
  A proposal for two new INI files which will replace the current INI's packaged with PHP. One focused on production deployments and the other focused on development deployments.
• count_elements handler vs count()
  Internal change to allow some optimization and add consistency.

• User defined session serializer
  Implement user defined session serializer interface (Created: 2016-11-17)
• Add PHP Engine Identifier Constant (Created 2016/02/03)
• Add validation functions to filter module
  Add functions suitable for input validations. (Created 2016-08-03)
• New operator for context-dependent escaping
  New operator <?* ?> for HTML escaping and other contexts. (Created 2016-07-14)
• Enable session.use_strict_mode by default
  Enable session.use_strict_mode by default. (Created 2016-07-05)
• var_type()
  Successor for gettype() function (Created: 2016-06-25)
• var_info()
  Extended version of var_type() function (Created: 2016-06-26)
• ReflectionTypeImprovements
  Improve ReflectionType's support for nullable and named types.
• Typed Properties
  Allow class properties to be typed (Created 2016-03-16)
• Union Types
  A proposal to add union types (Discussion began 2016-04-13)
• Callable prototypes
  Callable prototypes (Created 2015-08-27)
• Functional Interfaces
  Functional Interfaces (Created 2016-04-17)
• PHP Attributes
  Native support for annotation (Discussion began 2016-04-22)
• ''var'' Deprecation
  Deprecating var in favor of public (Created 2016-03-10)
• Precise Session Management
  Make session management precise. (Created 2015/03/21 )
• Number Format Separator
  Enable for numerical literals to be formatted for better readability (Created 2015-12-20)
• JSON numeric as string
  Proposes new options for dealing with the JSON number conversion problem by converting data to string.
• In Operator
  This RFC proposes a new operator for contains checks.
• Coercive Scalar Type Hints
  A proposal to add user-land coercive scalar type hints, and change internal function behavior to align with them (Created 2015-02-21)
• Make empty() a Variadic
  A proposal to make empty() accept any number of arguments (Created 2015-02-20)
• Allow error_handler callback parameters to be passed by reference
  (Created 2015-01-26)
• pecl_http
  Whether to add pecl_http v2 to the core
• Skipping optional parameters
  Skipping optional parameters in function calls (Created 2012-04-13)
• PHP 5.7
  Proposes a final minor version of PHP 5, PHP 5.7, with no new features but added deprecation notices. (Created 2014-12-15)
• Using objects as keys
  Allows to use objects as keys for arrays. (Created 2014-10-26)
• Abstract final classes / Static classes
  Language enhancement to support “abstract final classes” or “static classes”. (Created 2014-11-26)
• Access to aliases definition by reflection
  Extends reflection for a getDefinedAliases() methods. (Created 2014/10/09)
• Safe Casting Functions
  Adds a set of safe casting functions for scalar types (Created 2014-10-21)
• Loop + or control structure
  Adds a default block to loops to be executed in the event that the loop is never entered.
• Bare Name Array Literal
  A shorter new syntax for array key-value pairs (Created 2014-06-01)
• Bare Name Array Dereference
  A shorter new syntax for dereferencing arrays with string keys (Created 2014-06-01)
• Array Of
  Proposed syntax for Type-Hinting against the contents or an array (Created 2014/01/15)
• Improve HTML escape
  This RFC proposes more secure HTML escape by escaping “/” (Vote period: 2014/02/16 - 2014/02/22) (Created 2014/02/02)
• Multibyte Char Handling
  This RFC proposes the way to handle multibyte chars. (Created 2014/01/16)
• Alternative mbstring implementation using ICU
  A proposal to completely rewrite mbstring extension with ICU. (Created 2011/04/06)
• 64 bit platform improvements for string length and integer
  Integer and String modifications for full 64 bit support
• Alphanumeric Decrement
  This will add support for decrementing alphanumeric strings (“ab”, for example) to complement the existing incrementing behaviour. (Created 2013/12/16)
• Exceptions in the engine
  This RFC proposes to allow the use of exceptions in the engine. (Postponed to PHP 6.)
• Extended keyword support
  This RFC proposes to widen keyword support.
• Class instances counter
  This RFC proposes a new function returning a list with class names and their instance counter.
• trailing-comma-function-args
  Allow a trailing comma in function calls, similar to array declarations
• Add an array_part() function
  Adds a function to extract multi-dimensional slices
• SplClassLoader
  Merge implementation of first proposal of PHP Standards Recommendation (PSR) into SPL core
• Annotations
  Class Metadata feature (aka Annotations) support in PHP
• ifsetor() Operator
  This RFC proposes an operator that efficiently implements (isset($foo) ? $foo : $bar) as ifsetor($foo, $bar)
• Method overloading
• Non-breakable Traits
  This RFC is a extension to the basic proposal. It includes the notion of trait-local methods and properties.
• Function getEntropy
  Feature request for a new userspace function providing a truly random value.
• Property Accessors Syntax
  RFC for the addition of C#-style get/set accessors to PHP
• Alternative typehinting syntax for accessors
  Proposes an improved typehinting syntax for the accessors proposal.
• Automatic Property Initialization
  This RFC proposes automatic assignments of constructor arguments to properties. (Created 2013/09/27)
• Default parent constructors
  The RFC proposes that the parent constructors, destructors and clone operations were always callable even if not defined in parent class. (Created 2014-11-05)

• Use php_mt_rand() where php_rand() is used
  This RFC proposes replacing php_rand() function to php_mt_rand(). (Created 2014-07-17)
• Revisit trailing commas in function arguments
  Revisit trailing commas in function arguments (Created 2015-10-07)
• Short Closures (''~>'' operator)
  This RFC proposes an operator for shorter Closures.
• ReflectionParameter::getClassName()
  Add reflection method to access to a class name in a type hint (Created 2015-01-30)
• Big Integer Support
  Adds Big Integer support to PHP (Created 2014-06-20)
• Scalar Type Hints
  Adds four type hints for scalar types. (Created 2014-12-14)
• Deprecate function that modify INI
  There are number of functions that modify INI value. Let them deprecate and use ini_get()/ini_set(). (Other RFC is proposed)
• pecl_sync
  Whether PHP should support locking mechanism on its core
• Function Referencing as Closures
  Proposes a new syntax to allow referencing functions and methods as closures
• Readonly Properties
  Adds a readonly specifier to make properties writeable within a class, but only readable from outside (Created 2014-10-24)
• Strict Argument Count On Function Calls
  This RFC proposes to sensibly add a strict argument count check for function calls on PHP7 (Created 2015-02-20)
• Add scalar type hinting with casts
  This RFC proposes adding scalar type hinting with casting to provide more robust parameter hinting. (Re-opened 2014-07-13)
• Sessions: Improve original RFC about lazy_write
  An attempt at redesigning the accepted solution from session-lock-ini.
• Make GMP number work like PHP number
  Make compatible PHP number
• Constant Scalar Expressions (re-opening)
  This RFC proposes adding support for Constant Scalar Expressions.
• Function Autoloading
  This RFC proposes to refactor the existing autoloading mechanism to support function and constant autoloading.
• Structural Type Hinting
  This RFC proposes a new type-hint format to allow run-time checking of Structural Types.
• Constant Scalar Expressions
  This RFC proposes adding support for Constant Scalar Expressions.
• Modify tempnam() to handle directories and auto-cleanup
  Add TEMPNAM_DIR and TEMPNAM_REQUEST options to tempnam()
• Parameter Type Casting Hints
  This RFC proposes adding type casting hints to function declarations.
• Who can vote?
  Define the participants of the voting process.
• Magic Quotes in PHP, the Finalé
  A safe, orderly manner for getting rid of Magic Quotes.
• Return value type hint
  Return type hinting
• Cast and Assign Magic Methods
  Feature request to expose object_cast, get and set to PHP land code via two new magic methods
• Add mysqlnd.localhost_override option
  This RFC proposes to add mysqlnd.localhost_override to more easily override localhost when connecting to a MySQL database.
• Allow use T_AS in closure use statement
  Allow user use a alias name for lexical variable of closure
• strn(case)cmp supporting a negative length as its third paramter
  This extends PHP's string function strn(case)cmp to support a negative length as parameter
• Nested Class Support
  This RFC proposes support for nested classes, following on from Anonymous Classes.
• Extending the JsonSerializable interface
  This RFC aims to allow creation of an object through JSON (Created 2015-07-13)
• Improve array to string conversion
  Proposes alternative behaviors for array to string zval conversion. (Created 2015/01/10)
• IntlCharsetDetector
  Wrap ICU's UCharsetDetector (Created: 2016-04-11)

This section is for RFCs that have been deferred, obsoleted, or appear to have been abandoned. Sorry if your RFC is added here and you feel it is still active; please move it back to the appropriate section.

• Basic Scalar Types
  A RFC proposing pure scalar types (Created 2015-03-11)
• PECL versioning
  This RFC, about tackling the versioning issues in PECL extensions, has been implemented across PECL for several months. But what should be done about extension versioning in the PHP core?
• Improve consistency of protected member lookups
  This RFC proposes to eliminate an inconsistency in the way protected class members are resolved.
• Drop sql.safe_mode
  Dropping a php.ini setting affecting two extensions
• Get Random
  This RFC talks about how to get a (better) random string in PHP
• Error optimizations
  A way to optimize the formatting of our errors
• Function autoloading through spl_autoload*
  This RFC introduces a potential implementation for function autoloading which would be consistent with what we have for autoloading classes. (Created 2011/08/05)
• CLI options for strict and quiet modes
  This RFC proposes a -W option to turn on maximum error reporting, and a -Q option for no error reporting. (Created 2011/07/05)
• Add Logical Shift Operators
  Add logical shift operators for bitwise shifting of strings (Created 2011/07/18)
• Faster strtod algorithm
  This RFC proposes to add the Grisu3 strtod algorithm as an optional feature to PHP. (Created 2011/07/15)
• Isset Set Operator
  This RFC proposes new operators for handling unset/falsey variables.
• Scalar Type Casting Magic Methods
  This RFC proposes a set of new scalar type casting magic methods for classes.
• docBlock Parser
  Proposal to add docBlock parsing to the Reflection extension
• Annotations in doc block
  Class Metadata feature (aka Annotations) support in PHP through DocBlock
• Object and Array Literals
  This RFC proposes first-class, inline object and array literals similar to JSON.
• Weak References
  This RFC proposes the introduction of Weak References in PHP via a new SPL class.
• PDO Version 1 Improvements
  This RFC proposes a set of improvements to be made to PDO.
• Tainted variables
  This RFC proposes an implementation of variable tainting in PHP.
• Static classes
  This RFC proposes the introduction of static classes for PHP
• class casting to scalar
  This RFC proposes a way to do like __toString(), for other scalar types
• Autodefinition
  This RFC proposes the ability to define missing definitions (generalization of autoload).
• Line Markers in PHP
  This RFC proposes the introduction of line markers in PHP.
• Autoboxing
  Autoboxing feature in PHP
• Systemd socket activation
  Systemd socket activation support for PHP-FPM (Created 2012/10/18)
• Add a deprecated modifier for functions
  Add a deprecated modifier for functions (Created 2012/12/25)
• Clarifying/Improving the prototype checks
  This RFC discusses the current state of prototype checks, and gives some directions for discussion and improvement. (Created 2011/09/19)
• Introducing Jenkins
  This RFC proposes using Jenkins as a Continuous Ingtegration environment for the php project. (Created 2011/11/01)
• Support for anonymous catch-statements
  This RFC proposes adding catch-statements without variables, and fully anonymous catches. (Created 2013/06/25)
• Errors as Exceptions
  This RFC discusses the conversion of errors to exceptions (Created 2011/04/06)
• Proposed modifications to traits
  This RFC proposes three modifications to traits: increasing separation and consistency of inheritance vs. trait composition, adding trait-local scope, and extending use syntax. (Created 2011/04/06)
• Add toString to DateTime
  A proposal to add toString to DateTime (Created 2012/09/01)
• Property get/set syntax
  This RFC proposes to add a C# style property get/set syntax to PHP classes. (Created 2011-12-21 - document index)
• Make T_FUNCTION in method declarations optional.
  A proposal for removing the requirement to use T_FUNCTION in method declarations. (Created 2011/04/06)
• Jsonable interface
  Feature request to allow support json_(encode|decode) to handle Object instance conversions.
• Siberia
  This RFC proposes to create a cemetery for dead extensions (PECL or core).
• array_delete
  This RFC proposes adding array_delete() as an intuitive API for array element deletion. (Created 2012/08/22)
• Enhanced Error Handling
  This offers a concept and implementation to let the user (php coder) choose between php_error, exception et al while retaining backwards compatibility (Created 2009/12/27)
• Parameter (and Return) value type hints/checks
  Several RFC that propose to complete the actual parameter type hints/checks (and an implementation for return value type hints). (Created 2009/07/03)
• Native TLS in ZTS
  Improving performance of ZTS builds by using native thread local storage. (Created 2008/08/24)
• Better benchmarks for PHP
  A proposal for replacing current bench.php benchmarking script. (Created 2009/04/03)
• Remove reliance of Zend API
  A proposal to remove the use of the Zend API in PHP libraries. (Created 2009/03/29)
• PHP Native Interface
  Provide complete alternative to writing libraries interfaces using the Zend API libraries. (Created 2009/04/05)
• Function call chaining
  Function call chaining implementation. (Created 2010/01/30)
• Source files without opening tag
  This RFC proposes a way to support source code files without <?php at the top.
• New File Type for Pure-Code PHP Scripts
  This RFC proposes the creation of a new .phpp file type for scripts that contain only PHP code without a <?php or ?> tag.
• Named Parameters (obsolete)
  Dummy RFC for named parameters, superseded by Named Parameters.
• Lemon as a language parser
  This RFC discusses the switch from YACC/Bison to lemon for the main language parser
• Moving to an AST-based parsing/compilation process (obsolete)
  Proposal for AST-based compilation process. Superseded by the Astract Syntax Tree RFC. (Created 2012/09/04)

• Deprecate MCRYPT_RAND
  This RFC proposes the deprecation of MCRYPT_RAND in favor of selecting cryptographically secure pseudo-random number generators.