Bug #12900: Don't remove Alternate Syntax! Please!

From: coyote@i-hwy.net Operating system: All PHP version: 4.0.6 PHP Bug Type: Feature/Change Request Bug description: Don't remove Alternate Syntax! Please! I just noticed a message under "Alternative syntax for control structures" indicating it was deprecated as of PHP4 and might disappear entirely! PLEASE don't! I make EXTENSIVE use of this feature, and far from making unreadable code, it enables me to MUCH more easily keep track of everything! I have LOTS of scripts that go back and forth from PHP to HTML, and I would go nuts if I could not use the alternate control structures to keep stuff organized and neat, especially with if statements and for loops. The alternate structures enable me to cogently allow code to be passed with a minimum of echo commands, and make it much easier for me to go back and forth between my code editor and Dreamweaver, which I use for design and layout. The alternate structures show up as discrete script tags, and remain intact, while I am able to edit the appearance of the html as I wish. If you remove this functionality, Dreamweaver and other WYSIWYG editors may have no good way of knowing where code should end and design begin.I'll be cutting and pasting and pulling my hair out. There's a lot of people attempting to convince Dreamweaver to provide direct suport for PHP and MySQL the way it does for ASP/MS-SQL/Cold Fusion, etc. Since it's major web dev package, that would be good for PHP, I think. I suspect that removing the alternate syntax might make this harder. -- Edit bug report at: http://bugs.php.net/?id=12900&edit=1