Fibers

Perhaps not using the same variable name everywhere will be a good idea<?php$fiber = new Fiber(function (): void {   $parm = Fiber::suspend('fiber');   echo "Value used to resume fiber: ", $parm, PHP_EOL;});$res = $fiber->start();echo "Value from fiber suspending: ", $res, PHP_EOL;$fiber->resume('test');?>

Here is a simple scheduler and thread pool that implements multithreading using fibers and tick functions in PHP 8.1 and returns the return value of each function in the pool in an array at the end.Note that due to some bugs, you need to register a new tick function for each "thread". Remember to unregister all of them at the end.The link bellow is the discussion on a bug that is going on right now (At the time of writing this). Note that based on the discussion, the ability to call Fiber::suspend() inside tick function may become forbidden in PHP 8.2+. But if the bug gets fixed, you can move register_tick_function() line to the top of the class, and this simple multithreading class in pure PHP code will work like a charm.https://github.com/php/php-src/issues/8960<?phpdeclare(ticks=1);class Thread {  protected static $names = [];  protected static $fibers = [];  protected static $params = [];  public static function register(string|int $name, callable $callback, array $params)  {    self::$names[]  = $name;    self::$fibers[] = new Fiber($callback);    self::$params[] = $params;  }  public static function run() {    $output = [];    while (self::$fibers) {      foreach (self::$fibers as $i => $fiber) {          try {              if (!$fiber->isStarted()) {                  // Register a new tick function for scheduling this fiber                  register_tick_function('Thread::scheduler');                  $fiber->start(...self::$params[$i]);              } elseif ($fiber->isTerminated()) {                  $output[self::$names[$i]] = $fiber->getReturn();                  unset(self::$fibers[$i]);              } elseif ($fiber->isSuspended()) {                $fiber->resume();              }                          } catch (Throwable $e) {              $output[self::$names[$i]] = $e;          }      }    }    return $output;  }  public static function scheduler () {    if(Fiber::getCurrent() === null) {      return;    }    // running Fiber::suspend() in this if condition will prevent an infinite loop!    if(count(self::$fibers) > 1)    {      Fiber::suspend();    }  }}?>And here is an example code on how to use above Thread class:<?php// defining a non-blocking thread, so multiple calls will run in concurrent mode using above Thread class.function thread (string $print, int $loop){  $i = $loop;  while ($i--){    echo $print;  }  return "Thread '{$print}' finished after printing '{$print}' for {$loop} times!";}// registering 6 Threads (A, B, C, D, E, and F)foreach(range('A', 'F') as $c) {  Thread::register($c, 'thread', [$c, rand(5, 20)]);}// run threads and wait until execution finishes$outputs = Thread::run();// print outputsecho PHP_EOL, '-------------- RETURN VALUES --------------', PHP_EOL;print_r($outputs);?>The output will be something like this (but probably different):ABCDEFABCDEFABCDEFABCDEFABCDEFABCEFABFABFABEBEFBEFEFEFAABEABEBEFBEFFAAAAAA-------------- RETURN VALUES --------------Array(    [D] => Thread 'D' finished after printing 'D' for 5 times!    [C] => Thread 'C' finished after printing 'C' for 6 times!    [E] => Thread 'E' finished after printing 'E' for 15 times!    [B] => Thread 'B' finished after printing 'B' for 15 times!    [F] => Thread 'F' finished after printing 'F' for 15 times!    [A] => Thread 'A' finished after printing 'A' for 18 times!)

TL;DRThe Thread class from Ali Madabi above has been eventually deprecated by the linked issue as relaying on tick functions for preemptive multi-threading simulation has been deemed "bad practice". Better ways were suggested for achieving some sort of multi-threading, such as: Revolt and AMP.https://github.com/php/php-src/issues/8960#issuecomment-1184249445

I think that in some cases it makes sense to convert a Fiber to a Generator (Coroutine) for convenience. In such cases, this code will be useful:<?phpfunction fiber_to_coroutine(\Fiber $fiber): \Generator{    $index = -1; // Note: Pre-increment is faster than post-increment.    $value = null;    // Allow an already running fiber.    if (!$fiber->isStarted()) {        $value = yield ++$index => $fiber->start();    }    // A Fiber without suspends should return the result immediately.    if (!$fiber->isTerminated()) {        while (true) {            $value = $fiber->resume($value);            // The last call to "resume()" moves the execution of the            // Fiber to the "return" stmt.            //            // So the "yield" is not needed. Skip this step and return            // the result.            if ($fiber->isTerminated()) {                break;            }            $value = yield ++$index => $value;        }    }    return $fiber->getReturn();}?>

One of examples, how to make multi_curl faster twice (pseudocode) using Fibers:<?php$curlHandles = [];$urls = [    'https://example.com/1',    'https://example.com/2',    ...    'https://example.com/1000',];$mh = curl_multi_init();$mh_fiber = curl_multi_init();$halfOfList = floor(count($urls) / 2);foreach ($urls as $index => $url) {    $ch = curl_init($url);    $curlHandles[] = $ch;    // half of urls will be run in background in fiber    $index > $halfOfList ? curl_multi_add_handle($mh_fiber, $ch) : curl_multi_add_handle($mh, $ch);}$fiber = new Fiber(function (CurlMultiHandle $mh) {    $still_running = null;    do {        curl_multi_exec($mh, $still_running);        Fiber::suspend();    } while ($still_running);});// run curl multi exec in background while fiber is in suspend status$fiber->start($mh_fiber);$still_running = null;do {    $status = curl_multi_exec($mh, $still_running);} while ($still_running);do {    /**     * at this moment curl in fiber already finished (maybe)     * so we must refresh $still_running variable with one more cycle "do while" in fiber     **/    $status_fiber = $fiber->resume();} while (!$fiber->isTerminated());foreach ($curlHandles as $index => $ch) {    $index > $halfOfList ? curl_multi_remove_handle($mh_fiber, $ch) : curl_multi_remove_handle($mh, $ch);}curl_multi_close($mh);curl_multi_close($mh_fiber);?>

Example of the same functionality showing what is the difference between Fiber and Generator<?php$gener = (function () use (&$gener): Generator {    $userfunc = function () use (&$gener) : Generator {        register_shutdown_function(function () use (&$gener) {            $gener->send('test');        });        return yield 'test';    };    $parm = yield from $userfunc();    echo "Value used to resume fiber: ", $parm, PHP_EOL;})();$res = $gener->current();echo "Value from fiber suspending: ", $res, PHP_EOL;?><?php$fiber = new Fiber(function () use (&$fiber) : void {    $userfunc = function () use (&$fiber) : string {        register_shutdown_function(function () use (&$fiber) {            $fiber->resume('test');        });        return Fiber::suspend('fiber');    };    $parm = $userfunc();     echo "Value used to resume fiber: ", $parm, PHP_EOL;});$res = $fiber->start();echo "Value from fiber suspending: ", $res, PHP_EOL;?>