--- title: Two-step creation for PHP modules | daily.dev description: A PHP internals mailing list proposal by Alex Rock outlines a two-step approach to adding a native module system to PHP. Step one introduces 'definition files'... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/two-step-creation-for-php-modules-rmxqtamrs twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Two-step creation for PHP modules | daily.dev og:description: A PHP internals mailing list proposal by Alex Rock outlines a two-step approach to adding a native module system to PHP. Step one introduces 'definition files'... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/two-step-creation-for-php-modules-rmxqtamrs og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/rmXqtAmrS.png og:image:alt: Two-step creation for PHP modules og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Two-step creation for PHP modules **[externals.io](https://daily.dev/sources/externals)** · 16 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A PHP internals mailing list proposal by Alex Rock outlines a two-step approach to adding a native module system to PHP. Step one introduces 'definition files' declared with `declare(def=1)` — files with zero global side effects, containing only declarations (classes, functions, constants, etc.) and no executable statements. Step two builds on this with 'PHP modules' declared via `declare(module=1)`, adding `import` and `export` keywords for explicit, scoped symbol sharing between files. Internal symbols would be hash-prefixed to prevent global namespace pollution, with tree-shaking of unused exports. The proposal also covers Composer integration via a new `spl_register_module()` function and `composer.json` module fields. A proof-of-concept PR for step one already exists. A reply from Rowan Tommins critiques the proposal as too JavaScript-influenced, arguing PHP's architecture is closer to Java/C# and the design doesn't fit PHP's existing ecosystem. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Two-step creation for PHP modules](https://daily.dev/posts/two-step-creation-for-php-modules-g7fb2e0uj) · externals.io · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Two-step creation for PHP modules](https://daily.dev/posts/two-step-creation-for-php-modules-xyvwn1fjv) · externals.io · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Two-step creation for PHP modules](https://daily.dev/posts/two-step-creation-for-php-modules-1ltrewsrl) · externals.io · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Two-step creation for PHP modules](https://daily.dev/posts/two-step-creation-for-php-modules-gwqybbgk9) · externals.io · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Two-step creation for PHP modules](https://daily.dev/posts/two-step-creation-for-php-modules-8o6vgn4zv) · externals.io · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#general-programming](https://daily.dev/tags/general-programming), [#php](https://daily.dev/tags/php) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/two-step-creation-for-php-modules-rmxqtamrs) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Two-step creation for PHP modules","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/two-step-creation-for-php-modules-rmxqtamrs","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/two-step-creation-for-php-modules-rmxqtamrs"},"datePublished":"2026-06-08T21:14:37.210Z","dateModified":"2026-06-08T21:20:26.842Z","description":"A PHP internals mailing list proposal by Alex Rock outlines a two-step approach to adding a native module system to PHP. 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