PHP Versions Used in Commercial Projects in 2017

PHP remains one of the top 10 most utilized server-side languages, prominently featured in numerous websites. An annual analysis of PHP versions employed in commercial projects on Semaphore's hosted Continuous Integration service reveals that the majority of projects still use version 5.6, despite its active support ending in January 2017, with security updates available until the end of 2018. Versions 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5, which are no longer supported, are still used in 34% of projects, likely due to the complexities involved in upgrading to version 7.x, such as changes in error handling and variable management. Version 7.0, released in December 2015, is used by 19% of projects, and its support period is nearing its end, while version 7.1, released a year later, is adopted by only 9% of projects. Semaphore supports all these versions on its platform, encouraging users to upgrade and participate in discussions about PHP usage and Semaphore's continuous integration services.