What’s New in PhpStorm 2020.3

Now you can always see which language version is being used in a project. We have placed the corresponding indicator in the status bar. From there, you can also change the language version if composer.json doesn’t list any restrictions on the PHP version.

Function and method arguments in PHP 8 can be passed by specifying a parameter name. This eliminates the need to set optional parameters, and it means calls are now self-documented.

PhpStorm can help:

• Check that argument names are correct.
• Add parameter names automatically with an Alt+Enter quick-fix.
• Remove redundant arguments.

This feature lets you reduce the amount of boilerplate code when you initialize variables through a constructor.

In PhpStorm, you can convert constructor-initialized properties into promoted properties or change them back with Convert to promoted property Alt+Enter quick-fix.

Instead of having to use cumbersome conditions with null checks, the new ?-> operator allows you to build chains of calls with implicit checks for null for each element.

PhpStorm makes sure that the operator is being used correctly.

The new match expression is a type safe and compact alternative to the switch statement. A match expression can be used as a value and assigned to a variable or returned.

PhpStorm will determine whether a switch block can be converted to a match expression, and it will automatically do so with an Alt+Enter quick-fix.

With the new expression it might be hard to see misusages. PhpStorm will highlight them for you.

In PHP 8, you can use the str_contains() function to determine whether a string is part of another string. PhpStorm 2020.3 draws your attention to any usages of strpos() that can be replaced with str_contains().

PhpStorm also highlights the places where old substr() calls can be replaced with the new, more self-explanatory str_starts_with() and str_ends_with() functions.

PhpStorm 2020.3 comes with several PHP 8 attributes available right away in the IDE. We also provide them in a composer package jetbrains/phpstorm-attributes, so feel free to add it as a dependency in composer.json.

Like the @deprecated PHPDoc tag, you can use this attribute to mark methods, functions, classes, or class constants that will be removed in future versions of the software.

Specify the reason and replacement so that your users understand why they need to upgrade, and make it possible for them to do so automatically with an Alt+Enter quick-fix.

Use this attribute to define the keys and value types of object-like arrays. This will improve the coding assistance and analysis you get from PhpStorm.

Note: If written on one line, this also works in PHP 7.4 and earlier.

Mark objects or properties with the #[Immutable] attribute when you want to prevent any attempts at changing the object after it is initialized.

This makes the program state more predictable and debugging easier.

Adjust the write scope restriction of properties with one of the following constants passed to the attribute constructor: CONSTRUCTOR_WRITE_SCOPE, PRIVATE_WRITE_SCOPE, PROTECTED_WRITE_SCOPE.

Note: If written on one line, this also works in PHP 7.4 and earlier.

Mark functions that do not produce any side effects as #[Pure] to improve the code flow analysis in PhpStorm. The IDE will highlight redundant calls of pure functions.

If you mark a function as #[Pure] but in its body there is an attempt to change something from the outer scope, then PhpStorm will highlight the unsafe code.

All such PHP internal functions, e.g., array_merge(), are already marked in PhpStorm.

Use this attribute to specify which values a function accepts as parameters and which it can return. This will improve code completion and help detect possible bugs.

#[ExpectedValues] is an advanced version of expectedArguments() from .phpstorm.meta.php.

Mark the functions that can terminate a script execution with a #[NoReturn] attribute to get more accurate control flow analysis.

PhpStorm will offer to propagate the attribute down across the hierarchy with a quick-fix to get even more well-defined analysis.

Guzzle is one of the most popular HTTP clients for PHP. In PhpStorm 2020.3, you can test Guzzle requests without running the actual code.

If the request is supported, there will be a gutter icon next to it. Click it to create a new HTTP scratch file with the parameters prefilled.

Play around with the request and then save it as an .http file in your project.

To get a cURL string from an HTTP request, press Alt+Enter in the HTTP request editor and select Convert to cURL and copy to clipboard.

You can use the cURL string in the terminal or with your choice of HTTP client.

Mermaid.js diagrams and charts can now be rendered inside the IDE. Enable this support under Preferences/Settings | Languages & Frameworks | Markdown.

There is an Auto-Scroll Preview button in the top right corner of the preview pane that enables and disables synchronous scrolling with the editor.

We’ve added a bunch of popular Markdown code style presets that work when you reformat code with Ctrl+Alt+L. Settings are in Preferences/Settings | Editor | Code Style | Markdown.

The grammar checking engine supports more languages and provides higher-quality grammar checks.

When a mistake is highlighted, there will be a popup with an explanation and a suggested fix.

If you press Alt+Enter with a caret over the highlighted text, you will see all the suggested replacements in the top level, instead of a nested list like before.

Open multiple tabs side by side by dragging a tab over to the desired side of the screen.

Another way to open tabs in split mode is to press Shift+Enter on a selected file in Project view or in any search window.

You can preview files in a special tab without actually opening them. To enable this feature, click the gear icon in the Project view and select both Enable Preview Tab and Open Files with Single Click. If you start editing a file you are previewing, the tab will become an ordinary file.

We’ve integrated the TypeScript language service into the Problems tool window and removed the TypeScript tool window so that it’s easier to review the problems in your code from one place. We’ve also moved the actions previously available within the TypeScript tool window to a dedicated widget on the status bar.

If you have an unresolved React component in your code, place the caret at it, press Alt+Enter, and select Create class/function component from the list – the IDE will create the relevant code construct for you.

You can now use SQL to query MongoDB databases. PhpStorm 2020.3 supports SELECT queries with clauses such as JOIN, WHERE, GROUP BY, HAVING, ORDER BY, LIMIT, OFFSET, and all available MongoDB functions except map, reduce, filter, and let. If you want to learn more about SQL for MongoDB, read this blog post.

PhpStorm now supports the Couchbase Query service. We’ve also introduced two new extractors: One-Row, which allows you to copy a column to a comma-separated string; and SQL-Insert-Multirow, which generates a single INSERT statement with multiple new rows to be inserted.