PHP 8.2 Release Updates: QA Versions, Feature Freeze, New RFCs and Implementations

PHP Foundation publishes monthly updates on core development; this post covers the June 2022 progress for PHP 8.2.

PHP 8.2 is scheduled for release on November 24, with Alpha 1 and Alpha 2 already available for testing but not for production.

Pre‑compiled Windows builds can be found at https://windows.php.net/qa/ , Docker images on Docker Hub, source code on GitHub (php/php-src), and Homebrew packages via shivammathur/php.

The feature‑freeze date is July 19, after which no new feature proposals are accepted; all RFCs must be voted on before this deadline.

Recently accepted RFCs include:

Allowing false and null as independent types.

Allowing true as an independent type.

Random extension 5.x improvements.

Deprecation notice for is_callable and addition of a callable type.

Disjunctive Normal Form (DNF) types, enabling complex type unions such as (A&B&D)|int|null.

Additional RFCs under discussion cover topics like a new CURL URL API, enum‑based const declarations, PDO driver‑specific subclasses, expanding iterator_* to accept arrays, automatic Stringable for enums, and short closures similar to JavaScript arrow functions.

PHP 8.2 Windows builds: https://windows.php.net/qa/</code>
<code>PHP 8.2 Docker images: https://hub.docker.com/_/php?tab=tags&page=1&name=8.2.0</code>
<code>PHP 8.2 source: https://github.com/php/php-src</code>
<code>Homebrew PHP 8.2‑dev: https://github.com/shivammathur/homebrew-php</code>
<code>Article on new PHP 8.2 features: https://phpreturn.com/index/a626a74a300dc5.html</code>
<code>RFC: false and null as standalone types: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/null-false-standalone-types</code>
<code>Interview on false/null types: https://phpinternals.news/99</code>
<code>RFC: true as standalone type: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/true-type</code>
<code>RFC: deprecation notice for is_callable: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/partially-supported-callables-expand-deprecation-notices</code>
<code>RFC: DNF types: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/dnf_types</code>
<code>RFC: new CURL URL API: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/curl-url-api</code>
<code>RFC: const declarations with enum values: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/fetch_property_in_const_expressions</code>
<code>RFC: PDO driver‑specific subclasses: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/pdo_driver_specific_subclasses</code>
<code>RFC: iterator accept array: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/iterator_xyz_accept_array</code>
<code>RFC: auto‑implement Stringable for string‑backed enums: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/auto-implement_stringable_for_string_backed_enums</code>
<code>RFC: short closures: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/auto-capture-closure</code>
<code>More merged PRs and commits: https://thephp.foundation/blog/2022/06/30/php-core-roundup-3/#merged-prs-and-commits