Modern PHP Tips for Cleaner Code

PHP 8 added features that remove a lot of boilerplate. If you still write PHP the old way, these are worth adopting.

match instead of switch

$label = match ($status) {
    'draft' => 'Draft',
    'published' => 'Live',
    default => 'Unknown',
};

match returns a value, uses strict comparison and has no fall-through bugs.

The null-safe operator

// Before
$city = $user && $user->address ? $user->address->city : null;

// After
$city = $user?->address?->city;

Named arguments

htmlspecialchars($text, double_encode: false);

Skip optional parameters you do not need and make calls self-explanatory.

Constructor property promotion

class InvoiceMailer
{
    public function __construct(
        private Mailer $mailer,
        private string $from = '[email protected]',
    ) {}
}

Enums

enum Status: string
{
    case Draft = 'draft';
    case Published = 'published';
}

$status = Status::from($row['status']);

No more typos in magic strings — your editor and PHP itself check the values.

Readonly properties

final class Money
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly int $amount,
        public readonly string $currency,
    ) {}
}

Arrow functions

$names = array_map(fn ($user) => $user->name, $users);

Arrow functions capture outer variables automatically and keep short callbacks on one line.