Req #46602 [Opn->Wfx]: Change: Accessing by [] or {} to variables of other type silently returns NULL

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=46602&edit=1 ID: 46602 Updated by: yohgaki@php.net Reported by: bugs dot php dot net-V29nHf1_z-nsp at cvogt dot org Summary: Change: Accessing by [] or {} to variables of other type silently returns NULL -Status: Open +Status: Wont fix Type: Feature/Change Request -Package: Feature/Change Request +Package: *General Issues PHP Version: 5.2.6 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: I agree that raising error may help debugging. However, this behavior is not likely to be changed. 1. It breaks many codes. 2. Introducing E_DEBUG or like will create confusion. Feel free to bring this issue to internals ML, if anyone feel this change in appropriate. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2008-11-18 08:55:19] bugs dot php dot net-V29nHf1_z-nsp at cvogt dot org Description: ------------ As http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=41195 requested http://de2.php.net/language.types.string now mentions, accessing other types than strings, arrays or objects using the [] operator silently returns NULL. This behavior hides bugs. There is no sensible reason to use [] on a other types than mentioned, so it should result in an error. It would make sense to trigger an E_NOTICE. However, to be gentle to backwards compatibility it could also trigger an E_STRICT instead. The "expected result" below is only an example of a possible message. Reproduce code: --------------- $o = NULL; var_dump($o[0]); Expected result: ---------------- Notice: Undefined offset: 0 for value of type NULL NULL Actual result: -------------- NULL ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=46602&edit=1