Description:
------------
PHP is currently not matching empty strings in a perl compatible way.

If we use the following regex: /(?<=(\G.{2}))(?!$)/g
and the following string: 123456789

We would get the following results in PCRE1 and PHP (both PHP <7.3 and >=7.3): "12", "45", "78"
However, in PCRE2 (and Perl), we would get:  "12", "34", "56", "78"

This can be verified by using pcre2test and perltest that is bundled with PCRE2.

The changelog for PCRE2 10.32 states the following:

21. In both pcre2test and pcre2_substitute(), with global matching, a pattern
that matched an empty string, but never at the starting match offset, was not
handled in a Perl-compatible way. The pattern /(<?=\G.)/ is an example of such
a pattern. Because \G is in a lookbehind assertion, there has to be a        
"bumpalong" before there can be a match. The automatic "advance by one  
character after an empty string match" rule is therefore inappropriate. A more
complicated algorithm has now been implemented.

I am not sure if this behavior is intentional or not, but figured I'd highlight it to you.

Best,
Firas

Test script:
---------------
<?php
preg_match_all("/(?<=(\G.{2}))(?!$)/", "123456789", $matches);

var_dump($matches);
?>


Expected result:
----------------
"12", "34", "56", "78"

Actual result:
--------------
"12", "45", "78"