[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #58719: Bump the minimum PHP version to 7.2

[WordPress Trac]

#58719: Bump the minimum PHP version to 7.2
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 Reporter:  justlevine   |       Owner:  johnbillion
     Type:  enhancement  |      Status:  accepted
 Priority:  normal       |   Milestone:  6.6
Component:  General      |     Version:
 Severity:  normal       |  Resolution:
 Keywords:               |     Focuses:
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Changes (by johnbillion):

 * owner:  (none) => johnbillion
 * status:  new => accepted
 * milestone:  Awaiting Review => 6.6


Comment:

 I propose that in WordPress 6.6 the minimum supported version of PHP is
 increased to 7.2. The exact point release can be discussed but it seems
 that 7.2.24 is a solid candidate based on the discussion and usage stats
 provided in #57345.

 Supporting data:

 * WordPress 5.2 dropped support for PHP 5.2 - 5.5 in May 2019. A whopping
 19.3% of sites were affected on release day.
 * WordPress 6.3 dropped support for PHP 5.6 in August 2023. 3.9% of sites
 were affected on release day.
 * This ticket proposes to drop support for PHP 7.0 - 7.1. Currently just
 2.5% of sites are affected, well under the 5% threshold that has been used
 recently as a guideline for these bumps.

 With WP 6.6 planned for July 2024, we can expect that value to be around
 2.1 - 2.2% on release day if the 0.1% decrease seen every month for the
 last year continues. This also brings us to one year since the last bump,
 [https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/58719#comment:32 just as azaozz
 recommended].

 One noteworthy benefit of dropping support for 7.0 and 7.1 is that the
 sodium compat library can be removed because libsodium is part of PHP
 since 7.2. The type enhancements in PHP 7.1 and 7.2 are welcome additions
 for developers but less immediately applicable to WordPress core as it
 currently makes little use of type declarations.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/58719#comment:35>
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