The PHP internals mailing list is actively voting on the Bound-Erased Generic Types RFC (June 14–28, 2026), which proposes adding generic type syntax to PHP with type erasure at runtime. Two votes are open: a primary vote requiring 2/3 majority to accept the RFC, and a secondary vote on variance marker syntax (+T/-T vs in T/out T). Key community members are divided: Rowan Tommins voted No, arguing that native syntax should come with native enforcement and that erased generics weaken PHP's type guarantees. Larry Garfield urged delaying the vote, warning that a failed generics vote would be terrible PR for PHP, and suggested targeting PHP 9.0 (2027) with enforced/reified generics instead. Levi Morrison voted Yes, viewing it as a useful stepping stone toward reified generics. Rob Landers highlighted that with erased generics, type parameters reduce to 'mixed' at runtime, meaning generic type annotations provide no actual enforcement.
