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Last updated: April 6, 2026
Minimum PHP Version: PHP 7.4+
Status: Stable

PHP Version-Specific Documentation Strategy

This guide documents the PHPRefresher approach to handling PHP version differences in documentation. As a project supporting PHP 7.4 through 8.3+, we need clear strategies for showing version-specific features, breaking changes, and upgrade paths.

Quick Reference

  • Supported Versions: PHP 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3
  • Actively Supported: PHP 8.2, 8.3
  • Documentation Focus: Modern PHP 8.0+ with backward compatibility notes

Version Support Documentation

Feature Availability Tables

Use these tables in documentation to show which versions support each feature:

| Feature | PHP 7.4 | PHP 8.0 | PHP 8.1 | PHP 8.2 | PHP 8.3 |
|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
| Constructor Promotion | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Named Arguments | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Match Expressions | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |

Include in: Constructor docs, type system docs, OOP features, control flow docs

Code Comparison: Before & After

Show how to write compatible code for different versions:

// PHP 7.4
class User {
    private string $name;
    public function __construct(string $name) {
        $this->name = $name;
    }
}

// PHP 8.0+ (Constructor Promotion)
class User {
    public function __construct(private string $name) {}
}

Upgrade Guides

Quick reference guides for upgrading between major versions:

Using This Strategy

In Your Documentation

  1. Add version table at the top of files with version-specific info
  2. Use features appropriately - Show modern syntax first, then legacy if needed
  3. Link to upgrade guides when breaking changes apply
  4. Cross-reference related topics in "See Also" sections

Files Following This Strategy

These files include version support information:

  • docs/Classes/phpConstructor.md - Constructor features by version
  • docs/Classes/phpEnums.md - Enum support (PHP 8.1+)
  • docs/Classes/phpAttributes.md - Attributes (PHP 8.0+)

Resources

For detailed information, see Version Comparison Matrix.