If anyone needs to upgrade dozens of create_function() cases in their code to anonymous functions, I work on a tool called Rector.

It goes through the code and replaces the create_function with anonymous functions 1:1. It’s tested on 30 various cases.

Install

composer require rector/rector --dev

Setup

Let’s say you want to upgrade code in the /src directory.

# rector.php
parameters();
    $parameters->set(Option::PATHS, [
        __DIR__ . '/src',
    ]);

    $services = $containerConfigurator->services();
    $services->set(CreateFunctionToAnonymousFunctionRector::class);
};

Run on your code

# this is set run, it only report what it would change
vendor/bin/rector process --config rector.php --dry-run

# this actually changes the code
vendor/bin/rector process --config rector.php

# the "rector.php" config is loaded by default, so we can drop it
vendor/bin/rector process

EDIT: Updated 2020-10-31 with PHP Rector 0.8.x syntax