PHP 5.2.1 Released - Time to Upgrade?
PHP 5.2.1 was officially released yesterday, and it is possibly the time for PHP 4 die-hards or PHP 5/5.1 users to upgrade. Why? Consider the following:
New Features in PHP 5.2.1
- New Extensions
- JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)
- Filter Extension (simple input validation)
- ZIP (Full zip compression support read & write)
- Date (date manipulation functions/objects)
- __toString() now works everywhere
- E_RECOVERABLE_ERROR (fewer fatal errors)
- New SPL features (Regex Iterators, SplFileObject CSV support, Caching Iterator)
- Data: stream support
- And many other “minor” features
Performance Enchantments
- New & Improved Memory Manager + Heap Protection
- Faster include/require_once
- Optimized str_replace() and implode() functions
- Faster try {} catch {} blocks
- Significantly faster performance on Win32
- Optimized shutdown sequence
- Many other optimizations
Improved Security
- New configuration option allow_url_include (disabled by default)
- Over 40 security fixes compared to any prior release.
- More accurate memory usage tracking
- Filter extension can help filter out hostile input preventing
- XSS, SQL Injection and other nastiness.
- Memory limit is always enabled.
Improved Stability
- PHP 5.2.1 includes hundreds of bug fixes compared to previous releases, over 300 since 5.1.6
- Chances are that if you’ve reported a PHP bug in the last 6-8 months, PHP 5.2.1 has the fix for it.
If you are interested in migrating from earlier versions of PHP please see the guide provided by Ilia Alshanetsky.
