"Please wait while your system is updating..."

​
​Hey Reader,

Segment is the latest on Magento, PHP, JavaScript, Docker, programming & eCommerce.

If you've been waiting for Magento 2 to support PHP 8.1, this is the release, and 2.4.4-beta2 will become available Monday. This issue of Segment is all about Magento 2.4.4 and includes a few tips about upgrading & PHP 8.
​

🤔 2.4.4 - worth it?

This version will most likely not be a fun upgrade to conduct. I'm not sure why Adobe is releasing this as 2.4.4 and not 2.5.0, as this will most definitely be a major release with many potential breaking updates.

Merchants & agencies that will have the hardest time upgrading are those that have many modules/extensions installed. If this sounds like a project you're working on, you'll want to get a working version of 2.4.4-beta2 early so you can start experimenting with module compatibility.

As always, I advise holding back a bit after the GA release, but there is no reason to put off research & development of this new release.

Do I think the upgrade is worth it? Oh yea, ...read on.

🧙‍♂️ PHP 8.1 (required) support

Magento 2.4.4-beta2 will be the first (pre-release) version of Magento that will support PHP 8.1. Well, PHP 8.1 will actually be required (PHP 7 support is being dropped with Magento 2.4.4!).

But this does mean you can use all of the fun, new language-level additions such as constructor property promotion:

...along with nullsafe, enums, readonly props, ...you get it.

If you don't think this is a big deal, you're wrong. Magento programmers are tired of being "behind the curve" in the PHP ecosystem. In my long history of the framework, this is the first release of Magento that I remember being in full parity with the latest language version, so we can take full advantage of all of the new language features.

There's that, and then there's the factor of developer happiness. When developers have access to new features, resources & tools, they don't feel segmented from the rest of the programming ecosystem. Despair turns to hope, which leads to productivity.

Developers no longer need to wonder why they aren't getting the love & support that other frameworks are getting. This is such a giant win.

‍👾 PhpStorm + CPP

Constructor Property Promotion is by far my favorite feature of PHP 8. If you use PhpStorm, you can use the handy quick-fix to quickly convert files:

Less code leads to less bugs, more readability, and lower cognitive load for programmers. PhpStorm has always been my recommended IDE for Magento, and it's constantly been ahead of the curve when compared to other IDEs regarding implementing new PHP features.

If you'd like to learn some tricks about PhpStorm check out my Obscure PhpStorm Hacks course. It's completely free, and I'll be adding lessons as new tips become available.

‍🛫 Upgrading from older versions

Magento's Upgrade Compatibility Tool (UCT) can now also be used to check extension & customization compatibility with the upcoming 2.4.4 version.

The UCT tool can be incredibly useful in determining the state of your Magento store, and how seamless upgrading to your desired version will be:

Unfortunately it is only available to Commerce and not Open Source, but hopefully this changes after some time. If you are on the Open Source version of Magento, check out Ampersand's upgrade patch helper as an alternative.

​

Looking for Black Friday specials? Stay tuned ⏳.

​

Did you know... you can create a Magento 2 module, route & controller in less than 60 seconds?

Check out my YouTube video to find out how:

​

🤡 Meme time

​

​

eCommerce Fact Of The Day

The average shopping cart abandonment rate is 69.82% 😮.

​
​

Like Segment? Please reply back and let me know.

Have coder friends who may like it? Just forward this email over to them. They can also sign up at https://M.academy/newsletter/.

​

Keep coding,

Mark
https://M.academy

​