Skip to content
🚀 PHP 8.6 is coming — check out what's new
PHP News
Search
Accepted PHP 8.6

Deprecations for PHP 8.6

Deprecates 31 features in PHP 8.6 for removal in PHP 9, including return in finally blocks, is_double() and spl_object_hash().

Deprecate the list() construct?

Primary vote

23 Yes 23 No 1 abstain 50% approval

This poll has closed.

Deprecate returning from a finally block?

  • No 3
  • Yes 39
  • Abstain 4

This poll has closed.

Deprecate using let as an identifier?

  • No 11
  • Yes 24
  • Abstain 9

This poll has closed.

Deprecate using namespace as a class constant name?

  • No 8
  • Yes 29
  • Abstain 7

This poll has closed.

Deprecate using in, out, and inout as identifiers?

  • No 21
  • Yes 8
  • Abstain 15

This poll has closed.

Deprecate using is as an identifier?

  • No 10
  • Yes 29
  • Abstain 6

This poll has closed.

Deprecate the possibility to name a function readonly?

  • No 1
  • Yes 39
  • Abstain 2

This poll has closed.

Deprecate using _ as a constant and compile time alias?

  • No 4
  • Yes 34
  • Abstain 5

This poll has closed.

Deprecate using _ as a function name and the _() function alias for gettext()?

  • No 22
  • Yes 10
  • Abstain 11

This poll has closed.

Passing objects for $array parameter of array_walk() and array_walk_recursive()?

  • No 3
  • Yes 41
  • Abstain 0

This poll has closed.

Passing objects for $options parameter of deflate_init() and inflate_init()?

  • No 4
  • Yes 39
  • Abstain 1

This poll has closed.

Passing objects as parameters to the zlib.inflate and zlib.deflate stream filters?

  • No 4
  • Yes 38
  • Abstain 2

This poll has closed.

Passing objects as parameters to the bzip2.decompress and bzip2.compress stream filters?

  • No 4
  • Yes 38
  • Abstain 2

This poll has closed.

Passing objects for $vars parameter of mb_convert_variables()?

  • No 2
  • Yes 39
  • Abstain 2

This poll has closed.

Passing objects for $data parameter of http_build_query()?

  • No 10
  • Yes 21
  • Abstain 13

This poll has closed.

Deprecate is_double()?

  • No 2
  • Yes 40
  • Abstain 2

This poll has closed.

Deprecate is_integer()?

  • No 2
  • Yes 39
  • Abstain 3

This poll has closed.

Deprecate is_long()?

  • No 2
  • Yes 39
  • Abstain 3

This poll has closed.

Deprecate doubleval()?

  • No 2
  • Yes 38
  • Abstain 4

This poll has closed.

Deprecate define() with $case_insensitive being specified?

  • No 0
  • Yes 41
  • Abstain 3

This poll has closed.

Deprecate is_subclass_of with string when $allow_string is false?

  • No 0
  • Yes 37
  • Abstain 7

This poll has closed.

Deprecate is_a with string when $allow_string is false?

  • No 0
  • Yes 38
  • Abstain 6

This poll has closed.

Deprecate strcoll()?

  • No 2
  • Yes 39
  • Abstain 4

This poll has closed.

Deprecate SORT_LOCALE_STRING flag for sort() functions?

  • No 2
  • Yes 38
  • Abstain 3

This poll has closed.

Deprecate Metaphone Function?

  • No 8
  • Yes 20
  • Abstain 16

This poll has closed.

Deprecate dechunk filter?

  • No 15
  • Yes 18
  • Abstain 12

This poll has closed.

Deprecate ReflectionProperty::setValue() and ReflectionProperty::setRawValue() with wrong types?

  • No 1
  • Yes 43
  • Abstain 2

This poll has closed.

Deprecate ReflectionMethod::invoke() and ReflectionMethod::invokeArgs() with objects for static methods?

  • No 3
  • Yes 39
  • Abstain 1

This poll has closed.

Deprecate ArrayIterator methods that inherit ArrayObject implementation?

  • No 1
  • Yes 42
  • Abstain 0

This poll has closed.

Deprecate spl_classes()?

  • No 0
  • Yes 43
  • Abstain 0

This poll has closed.

Deprecate spl_object_hash()?

  • No 9
  • Yes 26
  • Abstain 11

This poll has closed.

Deprecate SplFileObject CSV methods?

  • No 5
  • Yes 25
  • Abstain 15

This poll has closed.

Deprecate mysqli::stmt_init, mysqli_stmt_init, and mysqli_stmt::__construct without the second argument?

  • No 0
  • Yes 40
  • Abstain 3

This poll has closed.

Deprecate mysqli_get_charset()?

  • No 0
  • Yes 43
  • Abstain 0

This poll has closed.

Deprecate passing a $sessionhandler object to session_set_save_handler() which does not contain the create_sid() and validateId() methods?

  • No 2
  • Yes 26
  • Abstain 14

This poll has closed.

Voting closed on August 10, 2026. 31 of the 35 items cleared two-thirds. The closest pass was passing objects to http_build_query(), at 21 to 10. list() failed on a 23 to 23 tie, in/out/inout went 8 to 21, _() went 10 to 22, and the dechunk filter went 18 to 15.

Summary

The PHP 8.6 deprecations RFC bundled 35 separate proposals, each with its own vote and each needing a two-thirds majority. 31 passed and 4 didn't. Everything that passed emits a deprecation notice in PHP 8.6, with removal no earlier than PHP 9.

What's deprecated

The one most likely to catch a real bug is returning from a finally block. A return there silently throws away any exception the try block raised:

function getConfig(): array {
    try {
        return loadConfig(); // throws if the file is missing
    } finally {
        return []; // the exception is gone, the caller just gets []
    }
}

In PHP 8.6 this triggers Deprecated: Returning from a finally block is deprecated at compile time, so you see it while writing the code rather than in production.

Some of the other items that passed include:

  • is_double(), is_integer(), is_long() and doubleval(), in favor of is_float(), is_int() and floatval()
  • let and is as identifiers, namespace as a class constant name, readonly as a function name, and _ as a constant, all reserved for possible future keywords
  • Passing objects where array_walk(), array_walk_recursive(), http_build_query(), mb_convert_variables(), deflate_init() and inflate_init() expect arrays, plus the same for the zlib and bzip2 stream filters
  • spl_object_hash(), since spl_object_id() returns the same identifier as an integer
  • The SplFileObject CSV methods: fgetcsv(), fputcsv(), setCsvControl() and getCsvControl()
  • strcoll(), the SORT_LOCALE_STRING flag, metaphone(), spl_classes() and mysqli_get_charset()
  • define() with $case_insensitive, and is_a() or is_subclass_of() with a string when $allow_string is false

The full list also covers changes to Reflection, ArrayIterator, mysqli::stmt_init() and session_set_save_handler().

What didn't pass

  • The list() construct, so list($a, $b) = $array stays next to [$a, $b] = $array
  • in, out and inout as identifiers
  • _ as a function name, and _() as the alias for gettext()
  • The dechunk stream filter

What it means for existing code

Nothing breaks in PHP 8.6. You get new deprecation notices, and the code keeps running. The alias deprecations are one-line swaps, like is_double() to is_float(). For most items, the RFC links an impact analysis run against popular Composer packages, so you can see how common each pattern is.

Our coverage