PHP is one of the most popular programming languages for building websites. The newer version of PHP 7.4 just released a few days ago (November 28, 2019). However, people who are running their website on the WordPress platform can opt to start using the new PHP version immediately by selecting PHP 7.4 using WordPress PHP version Switcher.
Currently, by default WordPress is running on PHP 7.3. PHP 7.3 is still the recommended version of WordPress. Because WordPress did not still finish testing PHP 7.4 across all of wordpress.com
How to Change PHP 7.3 to 7.4 on WordPress?
You can easily change to PHP 7.4 using WordPress PHP Version Switcher. To change PHP version head to:
- My Site> Manage Hosting
- From the dropdown choose PHP 7.4
- After selecting PHP version click on — Update PHP
(Note: All WordPress sites with eCOmmerce plans can switch the new PHP version right now. However, WordPress business plan site needs to install active plugins or custom WordPress themes for using PHP version switcher.)
What Comes with PHP 7.4 Update?
The new update brings a lot of improvements, some of the improvements are listed below:
- Improves overall performance & code readability
- Comes with arrow function for cleaner one-liners functions
- Type variance improved.
- Now underscore can be used for formatting numeric values.
- Support spread operators in the arrays.
- Typed properties.
- Literal separator (numeric)
- Foreign Function Interface (FFI) and many more.
Updating PHP will now affect any existing wordpress plugin
Wrapping Up
The new update of PHP brings a bunch of new features and improvements. WordPress powered website will benefit from these improvements in many ways. Such as: now WordPress user will expect the fastest execution times with low memory usage.
With the addition of arrow merging functions, type hinting, first-class type declaration- PHP 7.4 will of-course improve the quality of workflow, speed, and quality.