In PHP 8.0 identifier name tokenization will change as outline in the accepted RFC "Treat namespaced names as single token".

Aside from adding new sniffs to detect code affected by this change, the codebase of PHPCompatibility will need to be updated for this as well.

All sniffs which, in one way or another, look at T_STRING tokens should be reviewed to make sure they will work correctly on PHP 8.0 and most of them will need adjusting to take the new tokens into account.

PHPCSUtils has been updated already for this change and all current functionality in PHPCSUtils take the new tokens into account as of version 1.0.0-alpha4 (expected soon).

That version will also contain some helpers, most notably:

• A new Collections::nameTokens() method which, in most cases, code looking for T_STRING should be switched to.
• A new UtilityMethodTestCase::usesPhp8NameTokens() method to help tests figure out which type of tokenization to expect.

All functionality which will be added to PHPCSUtils after this should be compatible with the new tokens, so using PHPCSUtils solves half the problem.

Note: this is a complex change as we have to account for all the different tokenization possibilities.

At this time the PHP 8 tokenization should be expected on all PHPCS versions when run on PHP 8.

However, this is expected to change in the near future.

• Based on the proposal outlined in PHP 8.0 | Proposal for handling "namespaced names as single token" squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer#3041, the PHP 8.0 identifier name tokenization will be "undone" for PHPCS 3.x.
  A PR to implement this is currently open: PHP 8.0 | "undo" namespaced names as single token squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer#3063 and is expected to be merged in PHPCS 3.5.7.
• A PR to backfill the PHP 8.0 tokenization for all supported PHP versions for the PHPCS 4.x branch is lined up, but not yet pulled as it would conflict with some other changes for which PRs are currently open.

Once the above mentioned PRs have been merged, the matrix of when to expect which tokenization will change to this:

Refs:

• https://wiki.php.net/rfc/namespaced_names_as_token
• Proposal for handling this PHP 8 change in PHPCS
• Open PR for the PHPCS 3.x branch to "undo" the PHP 8 tokenization

Update:

In the mean time the PR for PHPCS 3.x was merged and has been released as part of PHPCS 3.5.7.
The PR for PHPCS 4.x has also been pulled and merged by now, so will be included in PHPCS 4.0.0.

PHPCSUtils 1.0.0-alpha4 is fully prepared for PHPCS cross-version compat regarding these tokens for PHPCS 2.6.0 - 4.x.

Ref:

• PR for the PHPCS 4.x branch to backfill the PHP 8 tokenization

Task list (not necessarily complete):

To do/to review:

• Sniff
• AbstractFunctionCallParameterSniff
• PHPCompatibility.Classes.NewClasses
• PHPCompatibility.Classes.NewLateStaticBinding
• PHPCompatibility.Classes.RemovedClasses
• PHPCompatibility.ControlStructures.NewExecutionDirectives
• PHPCompatibility.Extensions.RemovedExtensions
• PHPCompatibility.FunctionUse.NewFunctionParameters
• PHPCompatibility.FunctionUse.NewNamedParameters
• PHPCompatibility.FunctionUse.RemovedFunctionParameters
• PHPCompatibility.FunctionUse.RequiredToOptionalFunctionParameters
• PHPCompatibility.Generators.NewGeneratorReturn
• PHPCompatibility.IniDirectives.NewIniDirectives
• PHPCompatibility.IniDirectives.RemovedIniDirectives
• PHPCompatibility.InitialValue.NewConstantArraysUsingDefine
• PHPCompatibility.MethodUse.ForbiddenToStringParameters
• PHPCompatibility.MethodUse.NewDirectCallsToClone
• PHPCompatibility.Miscellaneous.NewPHPOpenTagEOF
• PHPCompatibility.Numbers.ValidIntegers
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.NewHashAlgorithms
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.RemovedHashAlgorithms
• PHPCompatibility.Syntax.NewFlexibleHeredocNowdoc
• PHPCompatibility.Syntax.NewFunctionCallTrailingComma
• PHPCompatibility.Syntax.NewNestedStaticAccess

Changes prepped to support PHPCS 4.0 (to be pulled soonish (Aug 2025)):

• PHPCompatibility\Helpers\MiscHelper::isUseOfGlobalConstant()
• PHPCompatibility.Constants.NewConstants
• PHPCompatibility.Constants.NewMagicClassConstant
• PHPCompatibility.Constants.RemovedConstants
• PHPCompatibility.ControlStructures.ForbiddenBreakContinueVariableArguments
• PHPCompatibility.FunctionUse.ArgumentFunctionsReportCurrentValue
• PHPCompatibility.FunctionUse.ArgumentFunctionsUsage
• PHPCompatibility.FunctionUse.NewFunctions
• PHPCompatibility.FunctionUse.RemovedFunctions
• PHPCompatibility.InitialValue.NewConstantScalarExpressions
• PHPCompatibility.Interfaces.NewInterfaces
• PHPCompatibility.Keywords.ForbiddenNames
• PHPCompatibility.Keywords.NewKeywords
• PHPCompatibility.LanguageConstructs.NewLanguageConstructs
• PHPCompatibility.Numbers.RemovedHexadecimalNumericStrings
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.ForbiddenStripTagsSelfClosingXHTML
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.NewArrayReduceInitialType
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.NewFopenModes
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.NewPackFormat
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.NewProcOpenCmdArray
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.NewStripTagsAllowableTagsArray
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.RemovedImplodeFlexibleParamOrder
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.RemovedLdapConnectSignatures
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.RemovedMbstringModifiers
• PHPCompatibility.ParameterValues.RemovedSetlocaleString
• PHPCompatibility.Syntax.ForbiddenCallTimePassByReference
• PHPCompatibility.Syntax.NewClassMemberAccess
• PHPCompatibility.Syntax.NewDynamicAccessToStatic
• PHPCompatibility.Syntax.NewFunctionArrayDereferencing
• PHPCompatibility.Syntax.RemovedCurlyBraceArrayAccess
• PHPCompatibility.Variables.RemovedIndirectModificationOfGlobals