PHP BackendModern PHP for serious backend development
PHP 8.x is a capable, fast, and practical language for backend development. With typed properties, fibers, match expressions, and a rich ecosystem, modern PHP is nothing like the PHP of a decade ago.
PHP powers over 75% of websites with a known server-side language — from WordPress to Laravel to Symfony. Modern PHP 8.x features typed properties, enums, fibers, match expressions, and attributes that make it a genuinely capable backend language. At A Major, we build modern PHP applications that leverage the language's strengths — rapid development, a massive hosting ecosystem, and battle-tested frameworks. PHP's maturity is its superpower. Composer has 400K+ packages, hosting is available everywhere from shared servers to Kubernetes, and the developer talent pool is enormous. With OPcache, JIT compilation, and async runtimes like Swoole, modern PHP performance rivals Node.js.
Quick start
composer create-project laravel/laravel my-app
cd my-app
php artisan serveRead the full documentation at www.php.net/docs.php
PHP 8.x strict typing
Union types, enums, readonly properties, and fibers — modern PHP is statically typed when you want it.
OPcache performance
Compiled bytecode caching with OPcache — PHP performance in the same ballpark as Node.js and Go.
Composer ecosystem
Packagist has 400k+ packages — there's a battle-tested library for almost every use case.
Pest & PHPUnit
Expressive test suites with Pest's readable syntax or classical PHPUnit — TDD is first-class.
PHP-FPM & Swoole
Traditional FPM for reliability or Swoole coroutines for async, long-running PHP processes.
Security best practices
Prepared statements, CSRF protection, password hashing with bcrypt — we follow OWASP top 10.
Why it's hard
Legacy code and reputation
PHP's early-era reputation lingers unfairly. Migrating legacy PHP 5.x codebases to modern PHP 8.x patterns requires systematic refactoring.
Async programming limitations
PHP's request-response model doesn't natively support persistent connections. Swoole or ReactPHP add async capabilities but diverge from standard PHP patterns.
Type system strictness
PHP's type system is opt-in. Codebases without strict typing accumulate type-related bugs — enforce declare(strict_types=1) project-wide.
Deployment fragmentation
PHP deployment spans shared hosting, FPM, Docker, and serverless (Bref). Choosing the right approach for your scale matters significantly.
Best practices
Use PHP 8.2+ with strict types everywhere
Add declare(strict_types=1) to every file. Use union types, readonly properties, and enums to catch errors at compile time.
Run PHPStan at level 8+ in CI
Static analysis catches type errors, dead code, and potential bugs before they reach production.
Use Composer autoloading with PSR-4
PSR-4 autoloading eliminates manual require statements and enforces a consistent namespace-to-directory mapping.
Deploy with OPcache preloading
OPcache preloading compiles your entire application on startup — eliminating per-request compilation overhead.
Useful resources
Frequently asked questions
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