With key decisions about both the version number and the engine for PHP 7 behind us, it's time to define an agreed-upon timeline so that all contributors can align around it. The purpose of this RFC is to define a one year timeline for the delivery of PHP 7.0, with a projected release date of November 2015.

As the competitive landscape for PHP is evolving, the proposal is to shorten that timeline as much as possible while still taking advantage of the unique opportunities available to us due to the major version number change. A one year timeline will allow us a fair amount of time to work on changes that are only allowed in major versions - namely, ones that break compatibility. Arguably, while we should definitely take the opportunity to implement compatibility-breaking changes in 7.0, we also shouldn't turn it into a compatibility-breaking festival, as the more we break, the more likely it is users would delay upgrades, stay with old, insecure versions - or even consider other alternative options. RFCs that don't explicitly require a major version change (i.e., ones that don't break compatibility) - can also be proposed, but they should be secondary, as they can equally make it into future minor versions (7.1, 7.2, etc.).

Proposed Milestones Milestone Timeline Comment 1. Line up any remaining RFCs that target PHP 7.0. Now - Mar 15 (4+ additional months) We're already well under way with doing that, with the PHPNG, AST, uniform variable syntax, etc. 2. Finalize implementation & testing of new features. Mar 16 - Jun 15 (3 months) 3. Release Candidate (RC) cycles Jun 16 - Oct 15 (3 months) Subject to quality! 4. GA/Release Mid October 2015 Subject to quality!

It's worth noting that the 3rd and 4th milestones will be quality dependent. If we have evidence that suggests that PHP 7 isn't sufficiently mature to go into the RC stage in June, or GA in October - we should of course adjust the timeline accordingly, and not push out a half-baked release. However, the goal would be to stick as much as possible to the deadline of new going-into-7.0 RFCs, and strive to follow the timelines for the 2nd and 3rd milestones as much as possible, to ensure an October 2015 release of PHP 7.0.