Re: RFC: Add `final class Vector` to PHP

Hey Tyson, Would it perhaps make sense to drag in php-ds, which has matured quite a bit over the years? I'm referring to: https://www.php.net/manual/en/class.ds-sequence.php Is what you are suggesting with Vector different from it? Note: For some reason, I can't quote your post and then reply, so it will be a top-post 🤷‍♀️ On Fri, 17 Sep 2021, 04:10 tyson andre, <tysonandre775@hotmail.com> wrote: > Hi internals, > > I've created a new RFC https://wiki.php.net/rfc/vector > proposing to add > final class Vector to PHP. > > PHP's native array type is rare among programming language > in that it is > used as an associative map of values, but also needs to support lists of > values. > In order to support both use cases while also providing a consistent > internal array HashTable API to the PHP's internals and PECLs, additional > memory is needed to track keys ( > > https://www.npopov.com/2014/12/22/PHPs-new-hashtable-implementation.html > - around twice as much as is needed to just store the values due to needing > space both for the string pointer and int key in a Bucket, for > non-reference counted values)). > Additionally, creating non-constant arrays will allocate space for at > least 8 elements to make the initial resizing more efficient, potentially > wasting memory. > > It would be useful to have an efficient variable-length container in the > standard library for the following reasons: > > 1. To save memory in applications or libraries that may need to store many > lists of values and/or run as a CLI or embedded process for long periods of > time > (in modules identified as using the most memory or potentially > exceeding memory limits in the worst case) > (both in userland and in native code written in php-src/PECLs) > 2. To provide a better alternative to ArrayObject and > SplFixedArray > for use cases > where objects are easier to use than arrays - e.g. variable sized > collections (For lists of values) that can be passed by value to be read > and modified. > 3. To give users the option of stronger runtime guarantees that property, > parameter, or return values really contain a list of values without gaps, > that array modifications don't introduce gaps or unexpected indexes, etc. > > Thoughts on Vector? > > P.S. The functionality in this proposal can be tested/tried out at > https://pecl.php.net/teds (under the class name > \Teds\Vector instead of > \Vector). > (That is a PECL I created earlier this year for future versions of > iterable proposals, common data structures such as Vector/Deque, and less > commonly used data structures that may be of use in future work on > implementing other data structures) > > Thanks, > Tyson