Re: [RFC] Mixed type

On Mon, 20 Apr 2020 at 16:17, Larry Garfield <larry@garfieldtech.com> wrote: > I... cannot actually envision what code would actually accept that mess. :-) var_dump() would be one example. Also caches that can store any userland value would be another reasonably common use. The general pattern is when you're handling someone else's 'data' and have no restrictions on what type that data should be. That's actually the use-case that prompted me to help draft this RFC. > now that we have Union types what places are > there where the currently available type declarations are insufficient? A type that explicitly allows any type is more forwards compatible than writing out a union type. Compare this: var_dump( mixed $expression [, mixed $... ] ) : void to: var_dump( null|bool|int|float|string|array|object|resource $expression [, null|bool|int|float|string|array|object|resource $... ] ) : void If/when we add an 'enum' type that is not a child type of any of the current types, the signature of that function doesn't need to change if it uses mixed, rather than the written out union type. Also, the 'fitting on a line' problem. cheers Dan Ack