Re: [RFC][DISCUSSION] Collection Inspection

On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 2:39 PM, Niklas Keller <me@kelunik.com> wrote: > > So, given $a collectionof string the operator returns whether > or not $a >> is, at that time, a collection of strings (be it an array or other >> iterable). It doesn't insure $a will stay that way - it's just a check of >> the variables status at a given moment, which is the best that can be >> hoped >> for in PHP. >> > > That should be a function, not an operator, unless you can bring up very > good arguments to make it an operator. > Consistency with instanceof. Hmm, it might be possible to just pile this all onto instanceof - following Derrick's mention of how Java does things, so here's a third implementation approach. It would look like this: $a instanceof array<string> Returns true if $a is an array (or implements array access) and that all it's members are strings. $b instanceof SomeClass<string> Returns true if SomeClass can be iterated and contains only strings. The question is can the token parser handle that pattern? Or does the current usage of < and > in their boolean form block this? If this third approach is accepted then we have no BC breaks at all since there's no new keyword or function. We just have a *very* expanded instanceof operator.