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<title>New features</title>
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</div><hr /><div id="migration53.new-features" class="section">
<h2 class="title">New features</h2>
<p class="simpara">
PHP 5.3.0 offers a wide range of new features:
</p>
<ul class="itemizedlist">
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
Support for <a href="language.namespaces.html" class="link">namespaces</a> has been
added.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
Support for <a href="language.oop5.late-static-bindings.html" class="link">Late Static
Bindings</a> has been added.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
Support for <a href="control-structures.goto.html" class="link">jump labels</a>
(limited goto) has been added.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
Support for native <a href="functions.anonymous.html" class="link">Closures</a>
(Lambda/Anonymous functions) has been added.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
There are two new magic methods,
<a href="language.oop5.overloading.html#object.callstatic" class="link">__callStatic()</a> and
<a href="language.oop5.magic.html#object.invoke" class="link">__invoke()</a>.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
<a href="language.types.string.html#language.types.string.syntax.nowdoc" class="link">Nowdoc</a> syntax is
now supported, similar to
<a href="language.types.string.html#language.types.string.syntax.heredoc" class="link">Heredoc</a> syntax,
but with single quotes.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
It is now possible to use
<a href="language.types.string.html#language.types.string.syntax.heredoc" class="link">Heredoc</a>s to
initialize static variables and class properties/constants.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
<a href="language.types.string.html#language.types.string.syntax.heredoc" class="link">Heredoc</a>s may
now be declared using double quotes, complementing the
<a href="language.types.string.html#language.types.string.syntax.nowdoc" class="link">Nowdoc</a> syntax.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
<a href="language.constants.syntax.html" class="link">Constants</a> can now be
declared outside a class using the <em>const</em> keyword.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
The <a href="language.operators.comparison.html#language.operators.comparison.ternary" class="link">ternary</a>
operator now has a shorthand form: <em>?:</em>.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
The HTTP stream wrapper now considers all status codes from 200 to 399 to
be successful.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
Dynamic access to static methods is now possible:
</span>
<div class="informalexample">
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">class </span><span style="color: #0000BB">C </span><span style="color: #007700">{<br /> public static </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$foo </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">123</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br />}<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$a </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"C"</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br />echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$a</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$foo</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<p class="para">The above example will output:</p>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
123
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
<a href="language.exceptions.html" class="link">Exceptions</a> can now be nested:
</span>
<div class="informalexample">
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">class </span><span style="color: #0000BB">MyCustomException </span><span style="color: #007700">extends </span><span style="color: #0000BB">Exception </span><span style="color: #007700">{}<br /><br />try {<br /> throw new </span><span style="color: #0000BB">MyCustomException</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Exceptional"</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">112</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br />} catch (</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Exception $e</span><span style="color: #007700">) {<br /> </span><span style="color: #FF8000">/* Note the use of the third parameter to pass $e<br /> * into the RuntimeException. */<br /> </span><span style="color: #007700">throw new </span><span style="color: #0000BB">RuntimeException</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Rethrowing"</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">911</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$e</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br />}<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
A <a href="features.gc.html" class="link">garbage collector</a> for circular
references has been added, and is enabled by default.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
The <span class="function"><a href="function.mail.html" class="function">mail()</a></span> function now supports logging of sent email
via the <a href="mail.configuration.html#ini.mail.log" class="link">mail.log</a> configuration
directive. (Note: This only applies to email sent through this function.)
</span>
</li>
</ul>
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