Are there libraries available in PHP that can be loaded to expand the functionality of older PHP versions with features from newer versions?

One way to expand the functionality of older PHP versions with features from newer versions is to use polyfills or libraries that provide the desired functionality. These libraries typically include functions or classes that mimic the behavior of newer PHP features on older versions. By including these libraries in your code, you can access modern features even on older PHP versions. 

// Example of using a library to polyfill PHP 7's random_bytes function on PHP 5
if (!function_exists('random_bytes')) {
    require_once 'random_compat/lib/random.php';
}

$randomBytes = random_bytes(16); // Use the polyfilled random_bytes function

Keywords

PHP libraries backward compatibility feature expansion version compatibility code enhancement

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