Editing PHP (section)

==== Syntax changes and additions ====
PHP&nbsp;8 includes changes to allow alternate, more concise, or more consistent syntaxes in a number of scenarios. For example, the nullsafe operator is similar to the [[null coalescing operator]] {{code|??}}, but used when calling methods.<ref name="wiki.php.net" /> The following code snippet will not throw an error if {{code|getBirthday()}} returns null:

<syntaxhighlight lang="php">
$human_readable_date = $user->getBirthday()?->diffForHumans();
</syntaxhighlight>

Constructor property promotion has been added as "[[syntactic sugar]]," allowing class properties to be set automatically when parameters are passed into a class [[Constructor (object-oriented programming)|constructor]].<ref name="Brent" /> This reduces the amount of [[boilerplate code]] that must be written.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Roose |first1=Brent |title=PHP 8: Constructor property promotion |url=https://stitcher.io/blog/constructor-promotion-in-php-8 |access-date=30 April 2024}}</ref>

Other minor changes include support for use of {{code|::class}} on objects, which serves as an alternative for the use of {{code|get_class()}};<ref name="Brent" /> non-capturing catches in try-catch blocks; variable syntax tweaks to resolve inconsistencies; support for named arguments; and support for trailing commas in parameter lists, which adds consistency with support for trailing commas in other contexts, such as in arrays.<ref name="PHP" />