# Swoole — Coroutine-Based Async PHP Runtime

> Swoole is a high-performance coroutine-based asynchronous programming framework for PHP that turns PHP into a language capable of handling concurrent connections like Go or Node.js.

## Install

Save as a script file and run:

# Swoole — Coroutine-Based Async PHP Runtime

## Quick Use
```bash
pecl install swoole
# Or via Docker
docker run --rm -it phpswoole/swoole php -m | grep swoole
```

## Introduction
Swoole extends PHP with an event-driven, coroutine-based concurrency model. It allows PHP developers to build high-performance TCP/UDP/HTTP/WebSocket servers without switching languages.

## What Swoole Does
- Adds native coroutine support to PHP for concurrent I/O
- Provides built-in HTTP, WebSocket, and TCP/UDP servers
- Implements async MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Redis clients
- Offers process management and task worker pools
- Supports millisecond-precision timers and signal handling

## Architecture Overview
Swoole is a C extension for PHP that runs as a persistent process (not per-request like PHP-FPM). It uses an event loop powered by epoll/kqueue at its core, with a multi-process reactor model. Coroutines are stackful and scheduled cooperatively, yielding automatically on I/O operations so other coroutines can proceed.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install via PECL (`pecl install swoole`) or compile from source
- Enable the extension in php.ini with `extension=swoole.so`
- Configure worker count via `$server->set(['worker_num' => 4])`
- Use Docker image `phpswoole/swoole` for containerized deployments
- Set `swoole.use_shortname` to control function alias behavior

## Key Features
- Stackful coroutines with automatic yield on I/O
- Built-in connection pooling for databases and Redis
- HTTP/2 and WebSocket server support out of the box
- Shared memory tables for inter-process data sharing
- Process and task worker management with message passing

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **ReactPHP** — event-loop async without coroutines; Swoole uses coroutines for synchronous-style code
- **Workerman** — pure PHP async server; Swoole is a C extension with higher raw throughput
- **RoadRunner** — Go-based PHP app server; Swoole runs entirely within PHP process space
- **FrankenPHP** — embedded PHP in Caddy; Swoole provides its own server and async primitives
- **Node.js** — similar event-driven model but Swoole lets teams keep their PHP codebase

## FAQ
**Q: Does Swoole work with Laravel?**
A: Yes. Laravel Octane provides a first-party Swoole adapter for persistent application serving.

**Q: Can I use existing PHP libraries with Swoole?**
A: Most libraries work, but blocking I/O calls should be replaced with Swoole coroutine-aware clients for best performance.

**Q: Is Swoole production-ready?**
A: Yes. It has been used in production by companies handling millions of concurrent connections since its initial release in 2012.

**Q: What PHP versions does Swoole support?**
A: Swoole supports PHP 8.1 and above for the latest releases.

## Sources
- https://github.com/swoole/swoole-src
- https://www.swoole.co.uk/docs

---
Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-9dd607d7
Author: Script Depot