PHP Lifecycle: End Of Life And Support Status
Last updated on October 18, 2023
PHP, or “Hypertext Preprocessor” is a scripting language used by developers, usually on the server side. Its main purpose is web development and has been widely used in the last decade.
One of the significant benefits of using PHP above other scripting languages is its high customizability, which is also why it is used by the majority of web developers.
Support status guide
End of life (EOL) is the end of a product’s useful life. When a product reaches the end of its life cycle, the manufacturer no longer supports it. The following table explains the different phases of a product’s lifecycle. Testing status is when the product is initially released and EOL is when product support is no longer offered. The time between these two points is the support timeframe.
Testing
The software is not yet publicly available. It is in testing phase i.e., alpha, beta, release preview etc.
Active
The software is actively supported by the vendor.
Phasing Out
The software will soon reach its end of life. You need to look for upgrade or migration options. The software will automatically go into phasing out status 2 months before end of life.
End Of Life
The software is no longer supported by the vendor. You need to make sure your system and environment are safe.
Version
Released
Active Support
Extended Support
(23 November 2023)
(23 November 2025)
(23 November 2026)
(8 December 2022)
(8 December 2024)
(8 December 2025)
(25 November 2021)
(25 November 2023)
(25 November 2024)
(26 November 2020)
(26 November 2022)
(26 November 2023)
(28 November 2019)
(28 November 2021)
(28 November 2022)
(6 December 2018)
(6 December 2020)
(6 December 2021)
(30 November 2017)
(30 November 2019)
(30 November 2020)
(1 December 2016)
(1 December 2018)
(1 December 2019)
(3 December 2015)
(4 January 2018)
(10 January 2019)
(28 August 2014)
(19 January 2017)
(31 December 2018)
PHP was first released in 1995 but did not become popular until 2005. Even then, it was not widely used. However, with security and other support, it is now the majority market holder in web development.
Since the release of PHP version 5.4 in 2012, a new version is released every year. PHP offers 2 years of Active support for all versions and then transcends to an additional 1 year of security support. When in the Security support duration, PHP may or may not receive security updates, depending on whether one is required. If there are no security vulnerabilities, threats, or reports, then a Security update may not be received.
You can find similar information on this official PHP website.
EOLs
