Composer 2.0: Faster PHP Deps

Composer install times frustrate developers. Composer 2.0 revolutionizes performance with 10-20x faster dependency resolution. At ZIRA Software, Composer 2 reduced CI/CD build times by 60%.

Performance Improvements

Benchmarks:

# Laravel project (100+ dependencies)
Composer 1.x: ~45 seconds
Composer 2.x: ~3 seconds (15x faster)

# Symfony project (150+ dependencies)
Composer 1.x: ~60 seconds
Composer 2.x: ~4 seconds (15x faster)

Installation

# Global update
composer self-update --2

# Check version
composer --version
# Composer version 2.x.x

# Revert if needed
composer self-update --1

Key Improvements

1. Improved dependency resolver:

# Composer 2 resolves conflicts faster
composer require package/name

# Much faster conflict resolution
# Better error messages

2. Parallel downloads:

# Downloads multiple packages simultaneously
composer install

# Configure parallel downloads
composer config --global process-timeout 0

3. Better caching:

# Improved cache usage
composer install

# Clear cache if needed
composer clear-cache

Platform Check

New platform check:

# composer.json
{
    "config": {
        "platform-check": true
    }
}

# Checks PHP version and extensions before execution
composer check-platform-reqs

Partial Updates

# Update specific package with dependencies
composer update vendor/package --with-dependencies

# Update without dependencies
composer update vendor/package --no-dependencies

Audit Command

# Check for security vulnerabilities
composer audit

# In composer.json
{
    "config": {
        "audit": {
            "abandoned": "report"
        }
    }
}

Performance Tips

1. Use exact versions in production:

{
    "require": {
        "laravel/framework": "8.54.0"
    }
}

2. Optimize autoloader:

composer dump-autoload --optimize --classmap-authoritative

3. Use composer install in CI:

# Uses composer.lock, faster than update
composer install --no-interaction --prefer-dist --optimize-autoloader

Migration

Composer 1.x to 2.x:

# Update composer
composer self-update --2

# Update dependencies
composer update

# Fix deprecated warnings
composer validate

# Update CI/CD configs
# Most existing configs work without changes

Breaking Changes

Minimal breaking changes:

• Plugin API changes (most plugins updated)
• Some deprecated features removed
• Better PHP version enforcement

Check compatibility:

composer check-platform-reqs

Conclusion

Composer 2.0 drastically improves PHP dependency management. 10-20x speed improvements reduce development friction and CI/CD times.

Need build optimization? Contact ZIRA Software for CI/CD consultation.