Hi, We discussed adding a new serialize handler some time ago. That didn't seem like a good idea and it concluded in my initial RFC for the new internal serialize API. That API didn't have any patch and wouldn't fit to the current API for serialization.
So I decided to completely redesign the proposed API. The resulted API is in updated RFC: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/internal_serialize_api I also created the patch that implements it: https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/453 The API is only for extension and does not change anything in user space (of course I run all tests to make sure that it's really the case). The changes are internal (just for extensions :) ). That's way I created an extension that tests the API. All results and examples are available at https://github.com/bukka/php-extest/blob/master/doc/serialize.md The tests are giving performance boost over 100% for the most useful scenarios. The main candidate (where the new API could be used) is DateTime and possibly other date objects. There are probably more extensions that could use it (I need to have a look). I would be happy to prepare patches if this proposal made it to the master branch. ;) I am not the best RFC writer so I am not sure if the text explains everything correctly. Please let if there is anything that is not understandable. I will be more than happy for any feedback. Thanks Jakub <https://github.com/bukka/php-extest/blob/master/doc/serialize.md>