For most projects, if you're using PHP, you probably can't eliminate your dependencies. If you really can afford on a project to go super clean and not need a bunch of other libraries, then maybe this is a really good time to be using something other than PHP. I'm honestly not bagging on PHP here. I really do think it has its place, and I was a PHP developer for many years myself. But just as there's a place and a time for PHP, there is a place and a time for other languages, too. When you have no dependencies on legacy PHP libraries, and the opportunity to go lean and clean and do what you want-- that's the project to not use PHP.