RE: [PHP] sloppy use of constants as strings. WAS: What does "<<<" mean?

> > > echo <<<EOF > > > BROWSER: $_SERVER[HTTP_USER_AGENT] > > > EOF; > > > > Isn't that form (sans quote marks) deprecated and frowned upon? > > <?php > > error_reporting( E_ALL ); > > echo <<<EOF > BROWSER: $_SERVER[HTTP_USER_AGENT] > EOF; > > Why would cleaner, perfectly error free code be frowned upon? http://us2.php.net/manual/en/language.types.array.php "A key may be either an integer or a string. If a key is the standard representation of an integer, it will be interpreted as such (i.e. "8" will be interpreted as 8, while "08" will be interpreted as "08")." I was always under the impression that using: $_SERVER[HTTP_USER_AGENT] or $foo[myindex] Was "bad" compared to the proper way of: $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'] or $foo['myindex'] Just like it's: define('MYTHING', true); not define(MYTHING, true); (again, note the ' marks) http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.define.php http://us2.php.net/manual/en/language.constants.php "If you use an undefined constant, PHP assumes that you mean the name of the constant itself, just as if you called it as a string (CONSTANT vs "CONSTANT"). An error of level E_NOTICE will be issued when this happens. See also the manual entry on why $foo[bar] is wrong (unless you first define() bar as a constant). If you simply want to check if a constant is set, use the defined() function." So, I think you're relying upon a little work that PHP does for you in that an undefined CONSTANT is turned into a STRING i.e. "bad". Personally, I *hate* that it does this work, and would love to see a little stricter parsing done and throw a fatal error if you try to use an undefined constant. D.Vin