PHP 7 has been released: Installers, VMs, Images, and Containers

PHP 7.0.0 has been released, and you can now find it included in updated versions of WAMP, MAMP, and LAMP in the Bitnami Library. This is a great choice if you want to run a local install, a virtual machine, or deploy to the cloud (options vary by stack).

Want to create a container-based  PHP 7.0.0 runtime and framework stack? Try it out with Bitnami Stacksmith!

This new version includes many bug fixes such as various stability improvements for it's database and other functionalities, and most importantly twice as fast as the last version. 

PHP 7.0.0 also comes with a new version of the Zend Engine which includes:

• Significantly reduced memory usage 
• Abstract Syntax Tree 
• Consistent 64-bit support 
• Improved Exception hierarchy 
• Many fatal errors converted to Exceptions 
• Secure random number generator 
• Removed old and unsupported SAPIs and extensions 
• The null coalescing operator
• Return and Scalar Type Declarations 
• Anonymous Classes 
• Zero cost asserts 

We'd love to hear how you like PHP 7 and what improvements or problems you've seen so far. Sound off in the comments below or connect to us on Twitter with your feedback.