Let’s go ahead and check out fresh new expressions and return types in PHP 8...

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Match expression

Unlike the “switch” expression in php, the match expression doesn’t require the break statement. It works exactly like a switch expresion. It uses strict comaprisons and doesn’t support type coersion.

Example:

$result = match($input) {
0 => "hello",
'1', '2', '3' => "world",
};

New “static” return type

Now, static can be used as a return type! This feature will be very useful to the developers due to PHP’s dynamically typed nature.

Example:

class Foo {
public function test(): static
{
return new static();
}
}

New mixed type

The mixed type can be used when we are experiencing one of the following things:

1. A function returns nothing or null
2. We're expecting one of several types
3. We're expecting a type that can't be type hinted in PHP

“mixed” type can mean any one of the following things:

1. array
2. bool
3. callable
4. int
5. float
6. null
7. object
8. resource
9. string

Note:mixed type can also be used as a parameter or property type. Also note that since mixed already includes null, it's not allowed to make it nullable.

Throw expression

“throw” is no more a statement, but an expression now, which enables us to throw exceptions in many new places.

Example:

$triggerError = fn () => throw new MyError();

$foo = $bar['offset'] ?? throw new OffsetDoesNotExist('offset');