Req #71419 [Opn]: Allow ::new() syntax.

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=71419&edit=1 ID: 71419 User updated by: andreas at dqxtech dot net Reported by: andreas at dqxtech dot net Summary: Allow ::new() syntax. Status: Open Type: Feature/Change Request Package: Class/Object related PHP Version: 7.0.2 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: I think before accepting the RFC it would have been a good idea to check which of these reserved words could have a useful meaning with "::", and thus, which doors are being closed by allowing these keywords as method names. E.g. for C::while() I don't really see anything useful other than interpreting it as a method. So it is fine to make "while" a valid method name. For C::new(), this could be an alternative syntax for "new C()". So maybe a good idea to keep this reserved.. C::class already has a meaning. C::namespace could be given a meaning. For now, C::new() is the only one that sticks out to me for method syntax. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2016-01-25 15:44:49] andreas at dqxtech dot net Thanks for the RFC link! > Anyway, you could use a trait to make your wished pattern easier to implement (on 7.0+): Sure.. but of course the idea here was to make this a language feature, so it would work for all classes, including those from 3rd party libraries, where I cannot add a "use Newable". I guess it is not going to happen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2016-01-25 15:36:38] wegvonhier+phpbugs at gmail dot net I believe the correspondig rfc for that change is this one: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/context_sensitive_lexer (allowing reserved words such as new in more contexts, the rfc even has an example using Collection::new()->method()) Anyway, you could use a trait to make your wished pattern easier to implement (on 7.0+): https://3v4l.org/ZQLSk ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2016-01-20 13:06:05] andreas at dqxtech dot net Description: ------------ I often create classes that have a normal constructor, and one or more static factory methods. On instantiation, I need to decide between "new C()" and "C::create()". For method chaining, the "new C()" needs additional brackets, like so: "(new C())". Switching between the two notations can be annoying. Proposal: Allow a syntax "C::new()", which would be equivalent to "(new C())". -------- Now.. when I had this idea, I was not aware that since PHP 7, and also in hhvm, it is possible to name a method like "new()". https://3v4l.org/Pp68v with user-defined method new(). https://3v4l.org/YvjJ9 without such a method. This is unfortunate, and makes this request difficult, if not impossible. A remaining (but not really great) option would be to give every class an "implicit" static method ::new(), but allow this method to be overridden. Maybe this was already discussed and discarded, and this is the reason why a method named "new()" is now allowed. In this case I would like this to be considered a support request. The answer could be a link to the discussion where this was decided. Test script: ---------------
<?php class C {} class D { /** * Allowed since PHP 7 */ static function new() {return NULL;} } // Call implicit method new, equivalent to "new C()"; $instance = C::new(); assert($instance instanceof C); // Call explicit method new. $null = D::new(); assert($null === null); ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=71419&edit=1