Req #71271 [Wfx]: Allow final abstract class {}

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=71271&edit=1 ID: 71271 Updated by: requinix@php.net Reported by: andreas at dqxtech dot net Summary: Allow final abstract class {} Status: Wont fix Type: Feature/Change Request Package: Class/Object related PHP Version: 7.0.2RC1 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: Original RFC thread: http://marc.info/?l=php-internals&m=141706013928872&w=2 Thread renamed: http://marc.info/?l=php-internals&m=141744239115034&w=2 Vote: http://marc.info/?l=php-internals&m=141840083023519&w=2 Your abstract+final idea was one of the options (the first one, even) but it looks like full static classes had more support. After all, if you can't instantiate the class and you can't extend it, what else can you do with it besides use static members? You're free to bring up the subject on the internals list, naturally. However it's only been a year so I wouldn't expect opinions to have changed much. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2016-01-04 05:50:48] andreas at dqxtech dot net It seems this is the discussion: https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/923 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2016-01-04 05:43:10] andreas at dqxtech dot net Is there any discussion I could have a look at, that explains why the RFC was discarded by most participants? Also, what I propose is not really the same, it is much simpler: Allow the combination of the two keywords, with the regular natural consequences. abstract: Cannot instantiate. final: Cannot inherit. I do NOT propose that a final + abstract class should only have static members. I think it would be a bad idea to enforce this on the language level. On the other hand, an IDE could very well notify people about the pointlessness of non-static methods within a final abstract class. Unlike the RFC, this simple proposal adds no confusion and no magic. Everything will behave as one would expect. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2016-01-04 05:31:18] requinix@php.net The idea was considered and declined. https://wiki.php.net/rfc/abstract_final_class ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2016-01-04 05:21:15] andreas at dqxtech dot net Description: ------------ It should be allowed to make a class both final and abstract, to make it a place for static methods. There is no good reason to not allow this. It is already possible to achieve the same or a similar effect with final + a private constructor. But this is unnecessarily verbose. Test script: --------------- <?php abstract final class C { static function foo() {} } Expected result: ---------------- should work just fine. Actual result: -------------- Fatal error: Cannot use the final modifier on an abstract class ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=71271&edit=1