Re: Adding new closing tag =?> for keeping trailing newline

> Declare statements shouldn't have any impact outside of the file in which > they appear. Declaring strict types doesn't force other classes that > interact with the defined class to also use strict types. A declare to > change how newlines after closing tags are handled within a single file > forces anything that uses the classes/functions defined in that file to > know that it handles them in a possibly different ways. Indeed (via includes)... Also consider this hypothetical example: ``` - 0 <?php foreach([1, 2, 3] as $item): ?> - <?= $item =?> <?php endforeach; ?> - 4 ``` Note the use of both ?> and =?> *within the same file*; a declare would not allow that. > I personally don't see a need for a new closing tag. I'm not usually swayed > by the "it adds confusion to the language" and would be against removing > such a tag if it existed and that was the reason for removing it. However, > I do think it's something to consider when adding something new to the > language. In this case, I don't think the positives outweigh the negatives, > especially in light of the fact it's really easy to accomplish this without > changes. I personally am generally in favor of removing "magic" stuff (even if this isn't exactly proposing that but to add a "straightforward" alternative). Other example, consider starting from this: ``` - first - foo bar - last ``` Now if you want to "variablize" the foo part, just change it to e.g. <?= $foo ?>; but for bar you have to remember and write e.g. `<?= $bar, PHP_EOL ?>` (or add a blank line after it [or a trailing space... no, please don't]), only because it happens to be at the end of a line (and don't forget to re-change it if you later append a qux)... PS: An[other] argument against could be something like "please don't add more things encouraging the use of PHP as a templating engine (unsafe etc.)", but the main target is *non*-HTML (e.g. Markdown or raw text) templates. -- Guilliam Xavier