Re: [RFC - discussion] __toArray()

On Tue, Feb 4, 2020 at 11:04 AM Steven Wade <stevenwadejr@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Sorry if it's been said in the discussion so far, but I do not see why > > print_r should convert anything to an array. It accepts > > multiple > > kinds of types including strings, numbers, and so on, and I think > > adding this behavior to print_r is a different thing than > > wanting a > > standard way for objects to be converted into arrays. > > You’re right, that’s my bad. I swore I tested print_r() with a class and > __toString() and it cast it, but I just ran it again and it just outputs > the object. The goal would be to have __toArray() behave on arrays like > __toString() does on strings. I’ll update the RFC to remove the reference > to print_r(). Thanks! > > > > And on that note, what is the motivation for wanting a magic method > > for converting an object into an array? Why not make it an explicit > > operation? I do not see the point of the magic here, except _maybe_ > > for adding it to ArrayObject or something to allow it to > > work with > > the array_* functions that work without references, in which case I > > think we think this RFC is the wrong approach as it is inadequate for > > that purpose. > > I think the motivation is exactly what you said. Allowing developers more control over how the object is treated when casted to an array - which would include when it is passed into an array_* function. Here is a use-case: if(is_object($arrayOrObject)){ $a = array_map($callback,$arrayOrObject->toArray()); } else { $a = array_map($callback,$arrayOrObject); } becomes $a = array_map($callback,$arrayOrObject); I'm not making an argument one way or the other for whether the above is justification, but, it does at least allow the above simplification of code.. > PHP’s pretty magical already, so adding another magic method isn’t out of > the question and would keep things inline with how some things are done > already. The idea for having magical casting is to make it simpler in the > user land for general array behavior when reading or looping. > -- > PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > > -- Chase Peeler chasepeeler@gmail.com