Re: Alias stdClass to DynamicObject?

On Mon, Sep 6, 2021 at 9:29 AM Nikita Popov <nikita.ppv@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi internals, > > In the thread for deprecation of dynamic properties, Rowan suggested that > we alias "stdClass" to "DynamicObject" in > https://externals.io/message/115800#115802. I wanted to split > this > discussion off into a separate thread, as this can be decided independently. > > The rationale for this is that "stdClass" is something of a misnomer: The > name makes it sound like this is a common base class, as used in a number > of other languages. However, PHP does not have a common base class. The > only way in which "stdClass" is "standard" is that it is the return type of > casting an array to (object). > > The actual role of stdClass is to serve as a container for dynamic > properties, thus the suggested DynamicObject name. > > What do people think about adding such an alias? Is this worthwhile? > > Regards, > Nikita If the alias goes to vote as the name DynamicObject, then I will likely abstain. I don't care. If it goes to vote under some other name, perhaps "map", or "dict", then I would likely oppose it. I would like to keep those names available for more useful features. There are multiple feature that would like these names: 1. Hacklang-style dict, which is a value-based dictionary type. Importantly, this is copy-on-write like an array; it does not have object semantics. 2. In the event we ever add generics, it would be nice to have these names available for interfaces. I don't think an alias and replacement name for stdClass is important enough to use these names.