Req #60429 [Com]: utf8_encode and utf8_decode functions should be deprecated
Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=60429&edit=1
ID: 60429
Comment by: daniel-php at easetechnology dot co dot uk
Reported by: deceze at gmail dot com
Summary: utf8_encode and utf8_decode functions should be
deprecated
Status: Assigned
Type: Feature/Change Request
Package: *XML functions
PHP Version: Irrelevant
Assigned To: yohgaki
Block user comment: N
Private report: N
New Comment:
Additionally, utf_encode and utf8_decode appear to be part of the XML extension, and it
shouldn't be necessary to include an XML parser just for two character conversion functions.
Previous Comments:
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[2011-12-02 01:37:45] deceze at gmail dot com
Description:
------------
The purpose of the functions utf8_encode and utf8_decode are time and again
misunderstood and have probably caused more encoding related problems than they
have solved. The biggest reason for this is their naming. Their purpose is to
*convert* the encoding of a string from ISO-8859-1 to UTF-8, yet they are named
in a way that suggests some other magical function that is necessary to work
with UTF-8 text. Users looking for "UTF-8 support" in their app quickly find
these functions due to their naming and use them without understanding what they
do, often only testing with ASCII text which appears to work fine of first
sight.
Why is ISO-8859-1 presumed to be the default encoding when converting to UTF-8,
hence why do these functions occupy such a prominent spot in the namespace?
There's simply no good reason for it.
The same functionality is available through iconv and mb_convert_encoding.
Therefore I suggest to slowly deprecate utf8_encode and utf8_decode to clear up
a recurring confusion and consolidate features into the existing, much more
versatile iconv and mb_ functions.
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Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=60429&edit=1
Thread (3 messages)