Merge pull request #708 from reliforp/claude/review-readme-docs-3YOmC

Lower minimum PHP version requirement from 8.5 to 8.4

Author: sj-i

.github/workflows/phpcs.yml

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup PHP Action
         uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
         with:
-          php-version: 8.5
+          php-version: 8.4
           extensions: dom, mbstring
           coverage: none
           tools: cs2pr

.github/workflows/phpunit.yml

@@ -19,15 +19,19 @@ on:
 jobs:
 
   phpunit-unit:
-    name: phpunit (unit)
+    name: phpunit (unit, PHP ${{ matrix.php-version }})
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        php-version: ['8.4', '8.5']
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
       - name: Setup PHP Action
         uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
         with:
-          php-version: 8.5
+          php-version: ${{ matrix.php-version }}
           extensions: ffi, dom, mbstring
           coverage: pcov
 
@@ -39,8 +43,8 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/cache@v5
         with:
           path: ${{ steps.composer-cache.outputs.dir }}
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-composer-${{ hashFiles('**/composer.json') }}
-          restore-keys: ${{ runner.os }}-composer-
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-composer-${{ matrix.php-version }}-${{ hashFiles('**/composer.json') }}
+          restore-keys: ${{ runner.os }}-composer-${{ matrix.php-version }}-
 
       - name: Validate composer.json and composer.lock
         run: composer validate
@@ -68,7 +72,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           file: build/logs/clover.xml
-          flag-name: unit
+          flag-name: unit-php${{ matrix.php-version }}
           parallel: true
 
   build-dev-image:
@@ -425,15 +429,19 @@ jobs:
       image: ${{ env.IMAGE }}:${{ steps.hash.outputs.tag }}
 
   phpunit-unit-arm64:
-    name: phpunit (unit, ARM64)
+    name: phpunit (unit, PHP ${{ matrix.php-version }}, ARM64)
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        php-version: ['8.4', '8.5']
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
       - name: Setup PHP Action
         uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
         with:
-          php-version: 8.5
+          php-version: ${{ matrix.php-version }}
           extensions: ffi, dom, mbstring
           coverage: pcov
 
@@ -445,8 +453,8 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/cache@v5
         with:
           path: ${{ steps.composer-cache.outputs.dir }}
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-composer-${{ hashFiles('**/composer.json') }}
-          restore-keys: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-composer-
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-composer-${{ matrix.php-version }}-${{ hashFiles('**/composer.json') }}
+          restore-keys: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-composer-${{ matrix.php-version }}-
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: composer install --prefer-dist --no-progress --no-suggest
@@ -465,7 +473,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           file: build/logs/clover.xml
-          flag-name: unit-arm64
+          flag-name: unit-arm64-php${{ matrix.php-version }}
           parallel: true
 
   build-test-mysql-images-arm64:

.github/workflows/static-analysis.yml

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup PHP Action
         uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
         with:
-          php-version: 8.5
+          php-version: 8.4
           extensions: dom, mbstring
           coverage: none
 

Dockerfile-dev

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM php:8.5-cli-bookworm
+FROM php:8.4-cli-bookworm
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
       libffi-dev \

README.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   <img src="docs/images/logos/banner_bg_white.png" alt="Reli" width="100%">
 </h1>
 
-![PHP (runner): 8.5.0+](https://img.shields.io/badge/php%20%28runner%29-8.5.0%2B-blue.svg)
+![PHP (runner): 8.4.0+](https://img.shields.io/badge/php%20%28runner%29-8.4.0%2B-blue.svg)
 ![PHP (target): 7.0+](https://img.shields.io/badge/php%20%28target%29-7.0%2B-8892BF.svg)
 [![Packagist](https://img.shields.io/packagist/v/reliforp/reli-prof.svg)](https://packagist.org/packages/reliforp/reli-prof)
 [![Github Actions](https://github.com/reliforp/reli-prof/workflows/build/badge.svg)](https://github.com/reliforp/reli-prof/actions)

composer.json

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
   "minimum-stability": "dev",
   "prefer-stable": true,
   "require": {
-    "php": "^8.5",
+    "php": "^8.4",
     "ext-ffi": "*",
     "ext-filter": "*",
     "ext-json": "*",

composer.lock

@@ -172,7 +172,8 @@ literature cited in the comparison doc.
   measuring baseline; the current scripts load it correctly.
 - **phpspy** is built from upstream HEAD, attached at 1 ms
   sampling.
-- **reli** runs from this repo on PHP 8.5 (per `composer.json`),
+- **reli** runs from this repo on PHP 8.5 (the runner floor in
+  `composer.json` is `^8.4`; these benchmarks were captured on 8.5),
   attached to the PHP 8.4 target via the `-- cmd args` form so
   reli's startup happens before the timed code begins. The 1 ms
   sampling period is set with `--sleep-ns 1000000`.

docs/bench/README.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ For the full catalogue of tasks-and-commands, see the
 
 ### Runtime
 
-- PHP 8.5+ (NTS / ZTS)
+- PHP 8.4+ (NTS / ZTS)
 - 64bit Linux x86_64 (or AArch64, experimental)
 - `FFI` extension enabled
 - `PCNTL` extension enabled
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ For the full catalogue of tasks-and-commands, see the
 ## 1. Install
 
 The Docker image is the easiest starting point — PHP 8.5, FFI, and
-PCNTL pre-built, no host toolchain needed. A one-line command
+PCNTL pre-built, no host toolchain needed (the published image runs
+on PHP 8.5 even though the supported runner floor is 8.4). A one-line command
 installs a shell function `reli` so the rest of this doc works
 exactly as written, with no docker flag incantations to remember:
 
@@ -116,11 +117,10 @@ composer install
 > Git) the equivalent command is `./reli` — substitute as you read.
 >
 > The `./reli` shebang is `#!/usr/bin/env php`, so the `php` on your
-> `PATH` must be **8.5+**. On distros that ship an older default
-> (e.g. Ubuntu with `php8.4-cli` from deadsnakes/sury), either install
-> `php8.5-cli` and switch the default — `sudo update-alternatives
-> --set php /usr/bin/php8.5` — or invoke explicitly with
-> `php8.5 ./reli ...`. The Docker wrapper sidesteps this entirely.
+> `PATH` must be **8.4+**. If your default is older, install
+> `php8.4-cli` and switch the default — `sudo update-alternatives
+> --set php /usr/bin/php8.4` — or invoke explicitly with
+> `php8.4 ./reli ...`. The Docker wrapper sidesteps this entirely.
 
 ## 2. Smoke test