Bug #79620 [Nab]: Typed nullable attribute throws Fatal error

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=79620&edit=1 ID: 79620 User updated by: jiri dot fajman at designeo dot cz Reported by: jiri dot fajman at designeo dot cz Summary: Typed nullable attribute throws Fatal error Status: Not a bug Type: Bug Package: *General Issues Operating System: Ubuntu 20.04 PHP Version: 7.4.6 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: Thank you for your reply. Could you please provide an example, where this behaviour without default initialization can be used? I just can't find any. Thank you. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2020-05-22 10:10:40] bwoebi@php.net This works as intended. Initialize the variable upon declaration: private ?string $x = null; ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2020-05-22 10:08:18] jiri dot fajman at designeo dot cz Description: ------------ PHP 7.4.6 Following code throws "Typed property A::$x must not be accessed before initialization". Expected behavior: Method getX() returns null. I cannot imagine any single usecase for this behavior and I consider it a serious bug leading back to PHP 7.0 hacks for nullable types in method signature. Note: Omitting getter method is not acceptable since accessing non existing attribute does not throw error. Test script: --------------- <?php class A { private ?string $x; /** * @return string|null */ public function getX(): ?string { return $this->x; } /** * @param string|null $x */ public function setX(?string $x): void { $this->x = $x; } } $a = new A(); var_dump($a->getX()); Expected result: ---------------- Expected result is that var_dump prints null, not crash with fatal error Actual result: -------------- Fatal error: Typed property A::$x must not be accessed before initialization ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=79620&edit=1