Which version of php is stable?

More than 75% of websites use PHP as the development language. The popularity of wordpress, phpmyadmin and other open source projects has brought a large number of long-tail users. However, they are generally installed but rarely updated.

Where to start?

No one chooses PHP 5.2 version anymore, but these things have already happened, but I am not writing this blog to complain about anything, let alone give you some upgrade guides. Usually they are using some hosting space that started in 2006. They have a "long-term support" version to avoid using newer versions, or they have no plans to upgrade yet. Or maybe there are really many reasons. However, good stuff awaits you in newer versions of PHP.

PHP 5.3 adds many useful OOP features! For example: anonymous functions, the SPL extension is more than just iterators, and the fabulous DateTime extension is already integrated in PHP 5.3. Also added the extremely important E_DEPRECATED error reporting flag. It will remind you that features you are using now will not be available in the next version. If you are already using PHP 5.3, your future upgrade path will be smoother. If you have online programs running on an older version, I do not recommend upgrading.

PHP 5.4 has carried out a series of optimizations, which has faster execution efficiency and less memory usage. Regardless of the traits you use, PHP 5.4 improves application performance and reduces hardware costs. Therefore, I recommend that you keep upgrading when using open source software.

PHP 5.5 is still in testing and is not suitable for production environments. Since PHP 5.3, the risks of upgrades and changes will be greatly reduced.

Everyone must be confused when choosing a PHP version. There are so many versions, which one should you choose?

Question:

We have now bought a new server, using Windows Server 2008 r2. Configure the php 5.4 environment.

But we used 2003 and PHP version 5.2 before we developed it. Will it affect the running of the program if it is transplanted to the new server? Or are there other issues I need to pay attention to?

API version

PHP adopts a downward compatible upgrade method for major versions, which means that 5.5 is compatible with 5.1-5.4. Having said that, in fact, the compatibility is not Be optimistic, and don't expect any good solutions from the PHP official. Now in September 2013, the versions are 5.2.17 5.3.27 5.4.17 5.5.3.

5.2.17

This version can be said to be the most widely supported version. Most open source software now uses this version, such as Drupal7.23 , Joomla2.5, most domestic software: dedecms5.7, discuzX3, etc. The latest version still supports 5.2. If there are no special requirements, installing this version is the most worry-free and labor-saving, but in the long run it may eventually be abandoned. . Nowadays, many hosting providers are too lazy to upgrade the PHP version in order to save labor costs, and basically support it anyway. (Insert a word here. In order to be compatible with more installation environments, domestic software is now very well-intentioned. Even PHP5.1 can be supported (discusX3 does not support it). The most rare thing is that the performance is not far behind, and it can do this. It’s really not easy!) Drupal6 recommends using this version.

5.3.28 (recommended)

Although the name of this version starts with 5, many people think it is the beginning of the PHP6.0 version, with improved performance. And because many APIs have changed, the compatibility with 5.2 is not very good. Although some open source software claims to be compatible with 5.2-5.3, there seem to be many problems. Many simply give up on 5.2. For example, Joomla3 only supports 5.3 and above. For Drupal7, it is strongly recommended to use this version, the support is quite good. This version can also be used for Drupal8, and the support is quite good. This version is widely used and strikes a good balance between performance and compatibility.

5.4 (gently recommended)

5.4 is basically close to the complete version. It is relatively complete now, with good stability and performance. It will be the key version for future upgrades. Drupal7.X supports it fairly well, but third-party modules are not perfect yet. If you are too lazy to upgrade later, you can install this version in one step.

5.5

Starting from 5.3, future versions will basically focus on performance improvements, and functions and other functions will be backward compatible. Starting from 5.5, there seems to be a 64-bit version with more powerful performance.

Summary

If the open source software says that it is recommended to install PHP5.3, then you should just use 5.3 honestly and don’t use 5.5 or anything else. You may think that it is compatible anyway. , the performance may be better, why not use the new one? That’s what I say, but you know that open source software is usually developed in a specific environment when it is developed. No matter how good the compatibility is, there will be unexpected surprises (no matter how powerful the team is, it is impossible to conduct compatibility tests on all function APIs, then It’s quite a terrible workload!), it will only be tested and optimized in a specific environment, and even if it knows that there are compatibility issues, the team will not modify it to be compatible with higher versions. It is not that they are rigid, but for safety. and stability are considered. In an open source atmosphere, we should have the awareness that "enough is the best" rather than "the latest is the best."

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