At the time of this writing, PHP5, the newest version of PHP, is in the beta-testing phase. While we can’t
speculate on which changes, if any, will be made to the final release, we would be negligent if we did not
prepare you for some changes that will most likely be in store for those who choose to upgrade. Knowledge
of these changes is especially important for those of you who have your Web sites hosted by a third-party
hosting company; if that company decides to upgrade, you will be along for the ride. Like it or not, their
decisions ultimately affect how you code your programs.
Throughout this blog, we draw attention to concepts or syntax that will change in PHP5. This informa-
tion is for your benefit only and does not affect the PHP version most commonly used today,
With the development of PHP5, Zend brings some new methodologies to the PHP table. The biggest
change to note is the switch in focus from procedural programming to OOP (object oriented program-
ming). While procedural programming has served PHP well thus far, large and complex programs are
much better served with OOP. Currently, PHP4 passes variables by value instead of reference. PHP5
changes all that. The new PHP5 provides for improved error handling and integration of objects from
external sources, such as Java.
