Skip to main content

PHP.js JavaScript module

PHP.js JavaScript module​

The php.js file generated by the WebAssembly PHP build pipeline is not a vanilla Emscripten module. Instead, it's an ESM module that wraps the regular Emscripten output and adds some extra functionality.

Here's the API it exposes:

// php.wasm size in bytes:
export const dependenciesTotalSize = 5644199;

// php.wasm filename:
export const dependencyFilename = 'php.wasm';

// Run Emscripten's generated module:
export default function (jsEnv, emscriptenModuleArgs) {}

The generated JavaScript module is not meant for direct use. Instead, it can be consumed through a NodePHP class in Node.js and a WebPHP class in the browser:

// In Node.js:
const php = NodePHP.load('7.4');

// On the web:
const php = await WebPHP.load('8.0');

Both of these classes extend the BasePHP class exposed by the @php-wasm/universal package and implement the UniversalPHP interface that standardizes the API across all PHP environments.

Loading the PHP runtime​

The load() method handles the entire PHP initialization pipeline. In particular, it:

  • Instantiates the Emscripten PHP module
  • Wires it together with the data dependencies and loads them
  • Ensures is all happens in a correct order
  • Waits until the entire loading sequence is finished