RFC Tracker

Makes bindec(), octdec(), hexdec() and base_convert() throw an Exception on invalid characters instead of ignoring them.

Adds IntlRelativeDateTimeFormatter for localized strings like "3 days ago" and "next Sunday".

Ends the PHP project's official endorsement of PEAR as a component framework and distribution system.

Requires autoconf 2.71 to build PHP 8.6 from git, and MySQL 5.7.3 or MariaDB 10.2.4 for persistent connections.

Speeds up asymmetric visibility by resolving read and write access separately instead of re-checking on every write.

Lets readonly properties declare default values, so a class can meet a get-only interface property with a fixed value.

Moves docs for extensions maintained outside php-src out of the PHP manual to a separate home run by the extension maintainers.

Lets you write, unset and increment properties on an object held by a constant, like OBJ->prop = 1, which was a fatal error before.

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

Adds a Time\Duration class that stores stopwatch-style time with nanosecond precision, for timeouts and delays instead of bare ints or floats.

Lets the #[\Override] attribute go on class constants and enum cases, so PHP errors if nothing is actually being overridden.

Adds Locale::getDisplayKeyword() and Locale::getDisplayKeywordValue() to show locale keywords and their values in a human language.

Adds URI builder classes, URI and host type detection, and component-aware percent-encoding functions to the ext/uri classes.

Adds an Io\Poll API to PHP core that uses epoll, kqueue and other system backends, a faster, scalable alternative to stream_select().

Adds an error_include_args INI setting that shows the actual arguments passed to a built-in function in its warnings and errors.

Deprecates returning a value, or using yield, in __construct() and __destruct(), while a bare return; stays legal.

Adds AES192 and AES256 SNMPv3 protocols, an snmp_init_mib() function to reset loaded MIBs, and more output controls to ext/snmp.

Limits php://filter URLs to 16 chained filters by default, blocking attacks that use long chains to turn file reads into code execution.

Deprecates the mb_ereg* regex functions in PHP 8.6 and removes them in PHP 9.0, since the Oniguruma library behind them is no longer maintained.

Makes every ? placeholder in partial function application a required parameter, instead of copying the original parameter's default.