PHP 8.5's Pipe Operator: A Decade in the Making, Elegant Code Evolution

PHP 8.5 is bringing a long-awaited feature: the pipe operator (|>). This deceptively simple yet powerful feature chains function calls, simplifying code and improving readability, much like Unix pipes. After years of development and several iterations, from its origins in Hack to its final implementation, it incorporates functional programming concepts, enabling chained calls and shining in contexts like match statements. Future PHP enhancements include exploration of partial function application and function composition operators, further boosting code efficiency and expressiveness.