background

The Loss of Nikita and the Future of PHP

Nikita Popov’s departure from PHP accelerated the creation of the PHP Foundation to support its future. Backed by major companies, the foundation has secured strong funding and development continues.

Blog 2023-04-05

The Departure of Nikita Popov and Its Impact on PHP

For over a decade, Nikita Popov was one of the most influential developers in the PHP community. His contributions helped shape major versions, including PHP 7 and PHP 8, making the language faster, more secure, and developer-friendly. However, his departure in late 2021 to focus on LLVM development left a significant gap in PHP’s core team.

Popov’s exit raised concerns about the future of PHP, as he had been a key driving force behind features like Typed Properties, Just-In-Time (JIT) Compilation, and Error Handling Improvements. This led to an urgent need for a sustainable plan to support PHP’s ongoing development.

The Birth of the PHP Foundation

Recognizing the risk of relying too heavily on a few individuals, the PHP community and major industry players came together to create the PHP Foundation—a non-profit organization aimed at securing long-term funding for PHP development.

Key Backers of the PHP Foundation:

  • JetBrains – A leading PHP tool provider (PhpStorm, PhpStan)
  • Zend – The original PHP company, now part of Rogue Wave Software
  • Laravel & Symfony – The most popular PHP frameworks
  • Private Packagist – A composer repository service
  • PrestaShop & Automattic – E-commerce and CMS giants
  • Acquia & Craft CMS – Major contributors to PHP-based platforms

The goal of the foundation is to provide consistent funding to PHP core developers, ensuring that the language continues to evolve without being dependent on a few individuals.

PHP’s Situation in 2022 and Beyond

Funding and Developer Support

Initially, JetBrains estimated they could raise $300,000 per year for PHP development. However, community and corporate contributions exceeded expectations, with over $550,000 raised in 2022. Monthly recurring donations alone generate $200,000 per year, allowing for the hiring of full-time developers dedicated to PHP’s core improvements.

New PHP Core Developers

Thanks to this funding, the foundation has been able to expand the team, bringing in additional developers who are actively working on:

  • Performance optimizations (JIT improvements, memory management)
  • Better debugging tools (improved stack traces, enhanced error handling)
  • Security enhancements (safer input handling, improved encryption functions)

With these developments in place, the PHP Foundation has ensured that the language will continue to thrive, adapt, and remain competitive.

The Roadmap for PHP’s Future

With PHP 8.3 now in focus, several exciting updates are on the horizon:

1. Further JIT Enhancements

JIT compilation, introduced in PHP 8.0, brought major performance improvements, but work is ongoing to refine it. PHP 8.3 and beyond will see:

  • More efficient memory management for faster execution.
  • Better handling of CPU-intensive operations, making PHP more suitable for AI and high-performance computing tasks.

2. More Robust Static Analysis Support

The rise of static analysis tools like PHPStan and Psalm has highlighted the need for stronger type safety in PHP. Upcoming versions aim to introduce:

  • Stricter type enforcement to reduce runtime errors.
  • Native support for generics, making complex data structures safer.

3. Better Asynchronous Processing

While PHP has traditionally been a synchronous language, frameworks like ReactPHP and Swoole have pushed for asynchronous execution. Future PHP releases may include:

  • First-class async support, allowing developers to write non-blocking applications more easily.
  • Improved concurrency, making PHP more competitive with Node.js and Python.

Is PHP Still Relevant?

Despite new programming languages and frameworks gaining popularity, PHP remains the backbone of the web. Here’s why:

  • Over 75% of websites still rely on PHP (including WordPress, Laravel, Symfony, and PrestaShop).
  • PHP 8’s performance optimizations have narrowed the speed gap with JavaScript and Python.
  • The PHP Foundation ensures long-term stability, attracting new developers to the ecosystem.

Conclusion

Nikita Popov’s departure may have been a turning point for PHP, but it ultimately led to the creation of a stronger, more sustainable development model. Thanks to the PHP Foundation, corporate and community support, and ongoing innovation, PHP is here to stay.

🚀 Whether you're building modern applications or maintaining legacy code, staying updated with PHP’s latest advancements will keep your skills relevant and your projects optimized.