If you ask what's missing with PHP, you often hear "asynchronous programming".

After 12 years working with PHP, I took a detour in NodeJS land for 2 years. Now that I'm back to PHP, I have a different understanding of what async means.

Let's start with an intro of async/await in JavaScript/TypeScript, and look at what currently exists in PHP: React, AmpPHP, Swoole… But also Guzzle, Symfony and Laravel!

Let's also look at a very concrete example: I ported an interactive NodeJS CLI to PHP (a real project, not a demo). How does the experience compare? What are the lessons from translating Node's async/await into PHP code?

And finally let's discuss what async enables in backend applications? How hard is it to take advantage of it today in PHP, and will PHP 8.1's fibers change the game in the long term?

We sure are missing out on a few things, but are we missing out on a lot? Make up your own mind after this talk.