From PHP7 to PHP8: New usage scenarios of the php_strip_whitespace() function

As a PHP developer, we all know the role of the php_strip_whitespace() function: remove comments and spaces in PHP source files. However, in PHP8, this function is no longer used for simple code compression. In this article, I will introduce the new usage scenarios of php_strip_whitespace() function in PHP8.

New Function Signature in PHP8

First, let us take a look at the new features of the php_strip_whitespace() function in PHP8. Its function signature is as follows:

php_strip_whitespace(string $filename, bool $remove_newlines = false);

Compared with the previous version, it now has a second optional parameter $remove_newlines, which allows us to remove newlines, not just comments and spaces.

New usage scenario: one-line code files

In many modern languages, like JavaScript and Python, single-line source code files are common. These files usually have only one line, which contains a very long string, the entire string is code. PHP8's php_strip_whitespace() function can now be used for such files.

For example, consider the following JavaScript code, which adds an HTML element to the page:

const html = '<div class="container"><h1>Hello world</h1></div>';
document.body.innerHTML += html;

Assuming we save it in the file "index.js", we can use the php_strip_whitespace() function Pack this into a single line string:

$code = php_strip_whitespace('index.js', true);

If we output this to $code, we will see the following:

const html = '<div class="container"><h1>Hello world</h1></div>';document.body.innerHTML += html;

Obviously, we have successfully reduced the code to a single line, And use the php_strip_whitespace() function to remove the newline characters. This technique can be used for many different use cases, such as single-line HTML or CSS files, or merging multiple PHP files into a single string.

New usage scenario: Protect code copyright

In the past, many PHP developers used comments and spaces to protect their code copyright. They believe that by adding lots of comments and whitespace to the code, their code becomes difficult to read and copy, thereby preventing others from copying their work from the source code.

However, in modern development, this technique has become obsolete. Many developers now use more effective techniques to copyright their code, such as closed source and copy-protected software. Moreover, standardized coding style and comments are often more popular and appreciated by others.

At this time, the new functionality of the php_strip_whitespace() function can help developers protect the copyright of their code. By removing comments and whitespace, developers can make source code more difficult to copy while keeping the code readable and maintainable.

Conclusion

In this article, I introduced the new usage scenarios of the php_strip_whitespace() function in PHP8. We can use it to compress single-line code files and protect code copyright. Both use cases demonstrate the importance of the php_strip_whitespace() function in modern PHP development.

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