---
title: "PHP Attributes: What, Why, How and When"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/php-attributes-what-why-how-and-when-rtzv4erax
source_url: https://wendelladriel.com/blog/php-attributes-what-why-how-and-when
type: article
source: "W endell Adriel"
author: "Wendell Adriel"
published: 2026-07-20T11:58:30.438Z
updated: 2026-07-21T08:17:46.205Z
tags: ["php", "laravel"]
reading_time: 19
upvotes: 20
comments: 2
language: en
---

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# PHP Attributes: What, Why, How and When

**[W endell Adriel](https://daily.dev/sources/wendelladriel)** · [@wendell_adriel](https://daily.dev/wendell_adriel) · 19 min read · 20 upvotes · 2 comments

## Summary

PHP attributes (introduced in PHP 8) are typed, structured metadata attached to classes, methods, properties, parameters, and more. They don't execute code themselves — a consumer must read them via the Reflection API and turn them into behavior. The post covers how to define attributes with target restrictions and constructor arguments, how to build a practical webhook handler registry using reflection, performance best practices (reflect at boot, use plain data at runtime), Laravel examples like #[Scope] and #[Config], testing strategies, and a clear decision checklist for when attributes are appropriate versus when interfaces, configuration, or explicit code are better choices.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://wendelladriel.com/blog/php-attributes-what-why-how-and-when>

## Community discussion

Top comments from developers on daily.dev.

**@mrtbg22** · 0 upvotes

> Great article, very informative! Been wanting to get more familiar with attributes just never had time to dig into them but this summarized it really well. Great work!

**@devmandan** · 0 upvotes

> It is worth noting the handful of `attributes` that come predefined in PHP: [https://www.php.net/manual/en/reserved.attributes.php](https://www.php.net/manual/en/reserved.attributes.php)
>
> I've made it a force of habit to use the `#[Override]` attribute for interface and abstract implementations. The `#[SensitiveParameter]` attribute is also well worth knowing about.

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---

Tags: [#php](https://daily.dev/tags/php), [#laravel](https://daily.dev/tags/laravel)

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