Weekly help thread

Hey there!

This subreddit isn't meant for help threads, though there's one exception to the rule: in this thread you can ask anything you want PHP related, someone will probably be able to help you out!

https://redd.it/1m5b212
@r_php

Why should I use Live Components over a dedicated frontend framework?

I'm working on a project where one of our Symfony Forms is actually a Live Component, and I must say I find it extremely convoluted and harder to grasp than if we had a backend Symfony API with a react/angular frontend.

Maybe it's because it wasn't done properly in the first place, or maybe I am missing something, so I'd like to know other Symfony developer's point of views on the matter.

https://redd.it/1m5crqu
@r_php

How to add URL to errorlog file?

Recently I noticed some errors in my error\log file, like this one:

>[20-Jul-2025 06:23:41 UTC\] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught OutOfBoundsException: Seek position 10 is out of range in /home/XXXX
Stack trace:
\#0 [internal function\]: ArrayIterator->seek(10)
\#1 /home/XXXXX(147): LimitIterator->rewind()
\#2 {main}
thrown in /home/XXXXXX.php on line 147

So, I know where to look in my code, line 147, but I want to find out which (in my case dynamic) page this triggers. How can I add an URL to this error message?

I can do it for my connections:

if ($mysqli->connecterror) {
$logEntry = date("d/M/Y H:i:s",time()).' '.$SERVER'HTTP_HOST'.$SERVER['REQUESTURI'].' '.$SERVER['REMOTEADDR'];
errorlog($logEntry);
die("Sorry, connection failed. Please refresh the page (press F5): " . $mysqli->connecterror);
}

But I don't know how to do this with other errors. Thanks for your help.

https://redd.it/1m5cmgp
@r_php

PHP RFC: Deprecate type juggling to and from bool in the function type juggling context
https://wiki.php.net/rfc/deprecate-function-bool-type-juggling

https://redd.it/1m5n2ru
@r_php

Install Jaxon DbAdmin on Backpack

https://medium.com/@thierry.feuzeu/install-jaxon-dbadmin-on-backpack-89c06b70edee

If you are not a Medium member,
https://www.jaxon-php.org/blog/2025/07/install-jaxon-dbadmin-on-backpack.html

https://redd.it/1m5pmg7
@r_php

Websockets in php

So i have been looking into rachetPHP for websockets and I just cant seem to get it working, as I am able to connect but then messages are not sent to the server as I am not seeing them in the browser nor in the command line from which i have initiated the server. If you have more experience with this please shine some light on me as I am clueless on setting up and managing web sockets in php.

https://redd.it/1m5ov9a
@r_php

Dockerized PHP environments – images for CLI, FPM, and full LEMP/LAMP stacks

Hey folks,

I wanted to share a personal project I’ve been maintaining:
👉 https://github.com/fbraz3/php-system-docs

It’s a collection of Docker images for PHP that I’ve built and refined over time. The goal was to have clean, flexible images for everything from basic CLI tasks to full LEMP/LAMP stacks—ideal for dev environments, CI/CD, or even small-scale production workloads.

Some highlights:

Weekly automated builds
Multi-version support
Lightweight and optimized images
Includes tools like WP-CLI, Composer, Symfony CLI, phpMyAdmin, etc.

Even though I’m not working with PHP on a daily basis anymore, the language played a huge role in my journey as a developer, and I wanted to give something back to the community that helped me grow.

Any feedback or suggestions are welcome—and feel free to open issues, contribute, or just give it a star if you find it useful!

Cheers 🍻

https://redd.it/1m5uih9
@r_php

Tell me about your code quality controls

What have you found to be effective in your ci/cd for code quality?

I want to maximize automated quality enforcement without annoying the Devs. I've already got Pint / phpcsfixer commiting fixes to PRs, via GitHub actions.

My last job was legacy spaghetti hell.

Now I'm tech lead at a scale up with a 1 year old modern code base (TALL11/ php83).
We're taking over as an internal team from an agency.

They've done a good job but the code has been written quite free and breezy, with speed over quality as you'd expect from an MVP product.


https://redd.it/1m5va55
@r_php

Entreprise grade reporting engine

We're in the process of rewriting our desktop app to a web app. Our backend is in PHP (Laravel) and we're evaluating what reporting egines are available to us.

Our app has more than 50 reports, some are quite complex and have very precise layouts.

Dompdf or PhpSpreadsheet would not be enough in our case (we need a real report designer, page header/footer, multiple levels of groups with header/footer...) hence why I'm saying "Entreprise grade"

I'm looking for ideas and feedback (good or bad) about reporting engines.

Right now at the top of my list is Stimulsoft's "Report.php" which ticks all our boxes, we're starting a POC in a few weeks.

We also like Jasper reports, even if the report serrver needs Java.

Do you have on-field experience about those two, or did you go with something else, and why ?

https://redd.it/1m5wlry
@r_php

The State of Laravel 2025 survey started
https://stateoflaravel.com/participate?ref=2025

https://redd.it/1m69mth
@r_php

The State of Laravel Survey, 2025
https://stateoflaravel.com/participate?ref=2025

https://redd.it/1m6aajj
@r_php

composer.json - should use jsonc format

composer.json - should support jsonc format.

I would kill for the ability to add comments to composer.json.

I got bunch of noscripts defined in a noscripts section and it's so frustrating looking at composer.json and not being able to remember what those were for.

Or even all the configs defined - I would love to be able to add comments. Like - to indicate what certain library is used for or what certain config option is for.

https://redd.it/1m6c3cb
@r_php

Forgotten Drupal site still runs after 8 years. No updates. No errors.
https://rulr.dev/blog/forgotten-drupal-site

https://redd.it/1m6cvxy
@r_php

What are your top myths about PHP?

Hey folks!

I’m working on a series of articles about the most common myths surrounding different programming languages.

Would love to hear your favorite myths or misconceptions — drop them below

https://redd.it/1m6c6s7
@r_php

Why don't we break switch cases by default?

Before anything else: This isn't me calling for a revolt, a change, or this being considered a bug or flaw. Neither am I trying to make a case (ha!). I have no issue with how it is, I'm asking out of curiosity. Nothing more :)

I wrote a switch block today. You know, ... switch, case, the action you want to perform, break, ... hm... "break"…? I mean, I know, otherwise it would continue to the next step. I don't think I ever wrote a switch block with breaks exclusively. Not sure if I've ever seen code that was different, though that might just be me not having paid attention or the kind of code I usually deal with. Am I an outlier here, is my perception warped? Why is it this way around, having to explicitly break instead of that being the default?

I may overlook something obvious, something hidden, something historic, ... I can speculate as much as I want, but if somebody actually knows, I'd be interested.

https://redd.it/1m6fnc9
@r_php

PHP the right way, but for testing ?

Hey everyone!
I recently changed companies, and for the first time in my life, I’m seeing what proper, professional use of tests looks like. I’m realizing every day just how weak my understanding of testing has been all along…

I really need to rebuild (or maybe build from scratch) my foundation and then work on advancing my knowledge from there.

Do you know of any great resources that cover the fundamentals of testing, especially in the context of PHP?

P.s. everything

https://redd.it/1m6hhy2
@r_php

How to Test Laravel Socialite Endpoints
https://nabilhassen.com/how-to-test-laravel-socialite

https://redd.it/1m6hgpy
@r_php

Turn YouTube videos into an audio-only RSS podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_qmL0x_20s

https://redd.it/1m6o7ub
@r_php

Whats the best place to host a simple PHP website?

New to PHP and coming from Ruby on Rails, Python, and Next.js. I've used Vercel before, I've heard of Hertzner, but I'm looking for a free way to deploy a very simple, almost static PHP website and wondering what people use.

https://redd.it/1m6rrlc
@r_php

What are some unusual coding style preferences you have?

For me, it's the ternary operators order.

Most resources online write it like this...

$test > 0 ?
'foo' :
'bar';

...but it always confuses me and I always write it like this:

$test > 0
? 'foo'
: 'bar';

I feel like it is easier to see right away what the possible result is, and it always takes me a bit more time if it is done the way I described it in the first example.

https://redd.it/1m73bzn
@r_php

New in PHP 8.5: The Pipe Operator
https://chrastecky.dev/programming/new-in-php-8-5-the-pipe-operator

https://redd.it/1m73qfi
@r_php