PHP 4 updates

supernix · #1 10-23-2007, 02:22 PM

I know that the default for all servers right now is currently setup for PHP 4.4.4 but I was wondering in light of the announcement "Support for PHP 4 will be discontinued at 2007-12-31. Please consider upgrading to PHP 5.2."

How will that announcement by the PHP developers effect the servers?

Sam · #2 10-23-2007, 02:25 PM

I would think that HG would have php5 as primary by the end of this year because cPanel are removing php4 from EasyApache when support is stopped by the php dev's

codesight · #3 10-23-2007, 02:50 PM

Just because PHP.net stops supporting PHP, that doesn't mean that places like RedHat, etc... will stop supporting it. In fact, RedHat is supporting PHP4 for another 3-4 more years for our contract here where I work. It may be like this for many other linux vendors.

It isn't going to be a quick transition to transfer over to PHP5. There are large differences in PHP4/PHP5, especially with OOP. It will break many applications. Can you imagine how many apps there are out there, hosted, and when they go to PHP5, how many won't work and all those clients that didn't code their own stuff will have to get it working again, spending a lot of money to get it fixed as well.

This will be an ugly transition, but for a PHP programmer it's probably good for me.

supernix · #4 10-23-2007, 03:08 PM

You mention a huge difference in relation to OOP any comparison charts you care to point me to?
I would have say that does not sound very professional for those to keep the deprecated version around like that. I would be less apt to stay with a code base for any project if they refused to keep up with the times and rewrite the code to be compatible with the latest version of PHP.

Don't get me wrong at all I am not a programmer by no means sure would like to learn though. So far just enough to be dangerous. So I am clearly speaking as an end user. Which makes it even more of a trepid thought for me. As I would not at the current time be able to reprogram any script from the ground up to PHP5 compliant.

codesight · #5 10-23-2007, 04:41 PM

No, I'm saying that developers should move forward, however, the platforms people host their apps on will likely have to run 4 and 5 longer than usual as large changes have taken effect.

You don't have to take my professional word on the OOP subject matter, however, OOP has been significantly redone and if you've written anything in 4, it will break 95% of the time if you just up and start using 5.

You can read about it more at the following link, but 5 uses the Zend 2 engine, whereas 4 used the old Zend 1 engine.

Have Fun: http://www.php.net/manual/en/faq.mig...migration5.oop

gwyneth · #6 10-23-2007, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supernix

I would have say that does not sound very professional for those to keep the deprecated version around like that. I would be less apt to stay with a code base for any project if they refused to keep up with the times and rewrite the code to be compatible with the latest version of PHP.

As codesight said, s/he is not talking about the applications.

As with many legacy retention situations, it is users, not developers, who directly or indirectly determine how long something stays around.

Think about how many users packages such as Joomla, Mediawiki, and such have. Now think how many of those users currently do not go through the minor upgrade process for something as vital as security releases.

Do you think those people are going to jump through hoops for a complete rewrite?

More of a nightmare are e-commerce packages. When Zen cart gets updated, for example, the list of files to be changed (so users can retain customization stuff) can number in the hundreds.

User base almost always determines changeover times, even when, on the surface, that doesn't appear to be true.

Microsoft ended up extending support time for Windows 98 for years after it first tried to stop. It stll provides some support for Windows NT, and believe it or not, Windows for Workgroups (though it would not be easy for a member of the public coming in off the street to discover how to get it).

Anyway, in a lot of cases developers have applications based on new systems ready long before the new system is introduced officially, let alone before users are ready for it.