ProcessWire 3.0.257 – Core updates

[ryan]

This week on the dev branch we've got several commits with various core improvements and fixes. @adrian has been using Claude Code to suggest core optimizations (focused mostly on the PageFinder) and so he sent the suggestions to me. (PageFinder is the brains behind the $pages->find() method, and many others). I took the suggestions and coded them into our PageFinder, but didn't want to mess with what was already working well, so put them in a new class named PageFinder2, at least temporarily. If running the latest dev branch, you can enable PageFinder2 by adding the following to your /site/config.php:

$config->PageFinder('version', 2); 

The most significant changes are: using subqueries for subselectors rather than separate independent queries; Reusing PageFinder instances (keeping a pool of typically 1-3 PageFinders rather than creating a new one for each $pages->find() operation); and lots of in_array() calls have been converted to isset() lookups, which should technically be faster (still the case in PHP8?, I'm not sure). There were some other changes as well.

Theoretically these changes should make PageFinder even faster than it already is. I did quite a bit of testing and found that for the most part it performs the same as PageFinder v1. But then I came across a rather complex selector that translated to a much faster PageFinder operation, nearly twice as fast, and that convinced me it was worthwhile. 

While PageFinder v2 is not consistently faster than v1, there are some situations where it can be a lot faster. I'm not totally clear on what those situations are just yet, but I'll be doing more testing. In other situations it also can use a lot fewer queries, though that doesn't necessarily translate to a performance difference. But on the whole, all of Claude's suggestions were quite good, regardless of performance improvements. 

I was pretty impressed with what Claude Code had suggested, so decided to install it on my computer too. I've found it's particularly good at finding bugs. I'll ask it to do a code review on a core file, and it always has good suggestions. It uses ProcessWire terminology too. For instance it pointed me to an object that wasn't properly "wired to the ProcessWire instance", and that's something you'd only ever hear in ProcessWire land. 

Claude code also helped with improvements to our DatabaseQuery* classes, PagesVersions module, Wire base class, NullPage class, and minor updates to the PagesLoader* classes. I'm not having it write any code just yet, but am having it suggest where improvements can be made. I like to code. 

I asked it how it knew so much about ProcessWire, and it said that it stays up-to-date with the forums, the website, API docs, and GitHub repo. Thanks to @adrian and @Jan V. for recommending it to me (Jan V. uses it to manage this webserver), I can see how it's going to be a big help to ProcessWire with its suggestions and ideas, I'm already learning a lot from it. And if you get a chance to try the updated PageFinder, please let me know how it works for you. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend! 

[gmclelland]

@ryan - In case you missed it, there’s a thread about how people are using AI with ProcessWire here if you’re interested?

 

[teppo]

18 hours ago, ryan said:

I was pretty impressed with what Claude Code had suggested, so decided to install it on my computer too. I've found it's particularly good at finding bugs.

The more you use it, the more you’ll be blown away. At least that’s how it has gone for me and most devs I know. Since Opus 4.x, Claude has completely transformed my workflow 🙂

I enjoy “manual” coding too, but AI coding has plus sides. Going from rough idea to usable feature is blazing fast, testing and prototyping has been so much fun, and AI tends to find issue (and opportunities!) humans would never spot. Also with Claude taking some of the load off my shoulders I often find myself working on multiple things at the same time… though I guess not everyone will see that as a good thing 🫣

Oh, and docs and tests! Claude is great for that stuff. It needs human guidance for both, though, as it tends to get confused about what actually matters. AI docs are often easy to spot: many words, little (or no) meaning.

Admittedly sometimes this way of doing things tends to feel less like coding and more like managing a team of skilful but a little naive devs that often need help with ideation, architecture, testing, and just plain common sense 😅

[ryan]

@teppo Thanks, good to hear the more I use it, the more I'll be blown away. I've been using AI ever since ChatGTP first came out, but primarily just for technical questions and such. For instance, a couple months ago Claude helped me figure out how to reduce static pressure in our HVAC system by rebuilding (DIY) the return plenum and filter rack, and it was super helpful. I posed the same questions to GPT and Gemini but they weren't nearly as helpful. This week is the first that I've gotten into collaboration with the actual code. Adrian showed me all the things Claude Code had recommended for the PageFinder, and I found myself really liking what it had found and suggested... Seemed like we were on the same page, just like with the HVAC work. The other thing is that I've found it a little overwhelming with all these models (GPT, Grok, Gemini, Claude, etc.) with big changes almost weekly, and if these companies were ethical and ones I'd even want to be putting money towards. Then I learned about why they created Anthropic in the first place, and last week heard how they were sticking to their ethics and wouldn't cross their red lines despite government pressure. Sounds like integrity to me, something that is hard to find with big companies. That opened my comfort level and clarified for me that Anthropic's Claude Code was a good place to dive deeper with this stuff. 

[mattgs]

Does no one really care about the ecological impact of this massive waste of energy and water with going all-in on AI 24/7? I'm disappointed. Seriously.

[adrian]

@mattgs - I am very environmentally conscious (it was my career in a previous life). The decisions we make in life are hard and never black and white. If AI can make us be more effective developers so we can create things faster and better, then we might actually be able to help people and the planet in the process, or maybe volunteer for good if we have more spare time available. Maybe AI can help us to figure out ways to get off oil faster, or preserve species on the brink of extinction. I really don't know and I have a lot of concerns about AI in the bigger picture, but we're definitely not going to stop it at this point, so let's try to use it for good as best we can.

[mattgs]

You do you. I completely disagree with your take on every level, and I can't possibly understand how you're able to square that circle about being environmetally conscious and using AI, which is burning energy, wasting water, driving hardware and energy prices, causing real physical harm (see Benn Jordan's video on datacenters) and not to mention, starting actual wars over precious resources. But I'm not going to argue about this. This community has moved in a direction where I have no longer a place in. And I for one can't in good conscience recommend or use a project I see as using unethical, harmful and environmentally and technically unsustainable practices anymore. Good luck and good-bye.

[ryan]

@mattgs Like Adrian, I also consider myself very environmentally conscious. I've not spent much time learning AI in part because I thought it was problematic for a lot of reasons. But I don't think we're likely to stop these AI companies so that's why I thought I should try things out with a company that seems to have more ethics than the others. Anthropic seems to have a mission for AI safety and sustainability. I hope it's legit. And as far as I can tell, the other companies don't, which I find concerning. But I'm also not as up-to-speed as you are on the on the issues you brought up, so I'll have to look closer as well as check out the video you mentioned (do you have a link?). 

I'm also aware that a project like ProcessWire gets executed millions upon millions of times every month (or day?) throughout the world, and every execution consumes energy. So I've always been very interested in optimization and making ProcessWire use as little time and energy as possible to do its work. The updates that we've been focusing on here are aimed directly at that. So perhaps AI is using a little energy to find optimizations and bugs in PW, but that single brief code review session reduces the energy usage of every ProcessWire execution going forward. This is a case where AI is likely saving a lot more energy than it consumes, indirectly by making ProcessWire use less energy. Some of the optimizations and bugs its found have been there since the beginning, and likely would have never been identified otherwise. 

[adrian]

2 minutes ago, ryan said:

And as far as I can tell, the other companies don't, which I find concerning.

One of the reasons I no longer use ChatGPT for anything - I don't want to get political here, but IYKYK.

I would love to boycott Google and Amazon completely as well. I do my best on these fronts, but it's basically impossible.

[mattgs]

 

[markus-th]

@mattgs I think tihs is a post for the "Pub" not for PW News

[WireCodex]

On 3/8/2026 at 12:31 PM, mattgs said:

This community has moved in a direction where I have no longer a place in.

Seriously? Is this why you're disappointed with our community? Are you even an adult person?

If you're so worried about the environment, you should start by quitting programming yourself, dude. 

Producing a single new laptop generates approximately 331 kg of CO2 emissions, while desktops create up to 948 kg of CO2. The manufacturing process accounts for 75%-85% of this impact, consuming 1,200 kg of water and 239 kg of fossil fuels. Globally, electronics contribute significantly to 62 million tonnes of annual e-waste. The software industry, part of the broader ICT sector, is responsible for approximately 2% to 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a figure comparable to the entire aviation industry. These emissions stem from both the energy consumed during software operation and the "embodied carbon" from manufacturing hardware.

 

Key Environmental Impacts of Laptops, PCs, and Software Development:

• Carbon Footprint: Manufacturing a new laptop produces over 300kg of CO2
• Resource Intensity: Creating one computer requires 1.5 tons of water, 48 pounds of chemicals, and 530 pounds of fossil fuels.
• E-Waste Generation: Small IT equipment (laptops, phones) generates 11 billion pounds of global e-waste annually.
• Toxicity: Improperly discarded computers leak toxic heavy metals, including mercury, lead, and chromium, into the environment.
• Manufacturing vs. Use: For battery-powered devices like laptops, 80% of total emissions occur during production, not during usage.
• Industry Impact: The ICT sector is responsible for roughly 3.7% to 3.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a figure comparable to the entire aviation industry.
• Growth Projection: Emissions from this sector are expected to rise significantly, potentially reaching 14% of global emissions by 2040.
• Development Impact: Creating a single, light software feature can produce about 60 kg of CO2, while a "heavy-duty" feature can generate 300 kg or more.
• Key Drivers: Major contributors include data center energy consumption, network infrastructure, and the energy used by developers' machines. 

The rapid replacement cycle (typically 3 years) is driving these figures, with e-waste expected to reach 82 million tonnes by 2030. Only 17.4% to 22.3% of global e-waste is formally recycled, with the rest ending up in landfills, often polluting soil and groundwater in developing countries.

 

On 3/8/2026 at 1:51 PM, ryan said:

This is a case where AI is likely saving a lot more energy than it consumes, indirectly by making ProcessWire use less energy

 

Ryan's reasoning makes much more sense than yours. We should repeat politically correct slogans less like a parrot and use a little more common sense and human reasoning.