As I write this, PHP 8 has just released. The PHP community was all aflutter over the weekend installing playing, benchmarking, generally having a wonderful time with this early Christmas present.

I’ve iterated over this loop before. I was part of the community for the release of PHP 7. I saw the same excitement, the same squeals of glee when something worked. It was awesome then, it is awesome now.

I hope and plan to be around for the release of PHP 9 as well. I love being a part of this community and love to see the awesome things that it creates. Most of the vocal members of this community are part mad-scientist and part artist. That’s a great combination for creating things that can change the world.

The fun part is that the community celebrating the release of PHP 8 is very different from the community celebrating PHP 7. There are a lot of new people who have stepped into leadership roles as some of the old guard have moved on to newer pursuits. I am thankful for all the people that have helped us get where we are, but I’m excited about the new faces that will help us get to the next level.

Nothing lasts forever. I know that there will come a day – hopefully long into the future – when PHP is no longer a thing. But that day is not today. Honestly, you can’t even see that day from here.

Until that day arrives, we as a community need to keep finding common ground on which to keep working together. As long as there are developers writing code in PHP, and as long as there are core developers who care enough to keep PHP moving forward, then yes, we can keep moving to infinity, and beyond.

That’s the dream the ElePHPant has when it sleeps.