Which version of php is best to download?

If you are just starting to learn PHP, you can use the latest stable version PHP 7.x. Compared with the old version 5.x, PHP 7.x is very new and has added many surprising new features.

Usually you will encounter situations where you are still using PHP 5.x in your future work. The latest version of the 5.x series is 5.6. Although this version is not bad, you should try to upgrade to the latest stable version of this series; because PHP 5.6 will no longer receive security updates after 2018.

From the perspective of website development, the higher the PHP version, the better. After all, the new version has improved in all aspects. Since most of the underlying engine has been rewritten, the new version of PHP now runs faster than the old version; however, many programs do not support the new PHP version. At this time, it depends on our program. If we want to be compatible with more Program, it is recommended to use PHP5.3.X version. If you want to pursue higher performance, PHP5.6.X or even PHP7.X is recommended.

To put it simply: choose the PHP version according to the actual situation.

Developing new projects: It is recommended to use the PHP7 version. It is a trend and the result of optimization. Its efficiency is very high.
Maintain old projects: It is recommended to use the PHP5.3 version, which is very stable!
Use open source projects/CMS and the like: Check the PHP version supported by the source code. Generally, the official website has documentation. DeDecms recommends PHP5.2. The latest version of WP recommends PHP7. Laravel and Thinkphp5 also support PHP7.

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