Re: [Discussion] Why can't I do "{$a::class}"?

On Sun, May 19, 2024 at 10:33 AM Peter Stalman <sarkedev@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Internals, > > Obviously we can't use constants or functions directly in strings using variable parsing, > I assume because it lacks the easily detectable $. > > However, we _can_ use methods because the object variable has the $, which I assume is the > reason methods work and functions don't. > > I feel like it's something that _could_ have been added when dynamic access of static > members support was added in 5.3.0, but maybe it was overlooked or decided against? Consider: > > ``` > <?php > > $a = new A(); > > echo " {A::$static_property} \n"; // doesn't work (unless $static_property is a > variable) > echo " {$a::$static_property} \n"; // works > > echo " {A::static_method()} \n"; // doesn't work (just text) > echo " {$a::static_method()} \n"; // works > > echo " {A::constant} \n"; // doesn't work > echo " {$a::constant} \n"; // doesn't work either, but why? > > ?> > ``` > > > Also, as a side note, why does this hack below work? It seems like something that would use > eval(), but doesn't. Take a look: > > https://3v4l.org/aPCSD > > I found it at the bottom of the manual entry for Strings[1]. Not something I would use, but > it's interesting to see. > > Thanks, > Peter > > [1]: > https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php#91628 In general, it would be nice to have some proper inline string templating, like other languages (js, C#, etc). At least some way to evaluate an expression and format. I'm thinking like in C#: $"Price: {price:C2}, Quantity: {quantity}, Discount: {discount:P1}, Total after discount: {(price * quantity * (1 - discount)):N2}" Price is formatted using currency with 2 decimal places, discount is formatted using percentage and one decimal, and N is a number format with 2 decimals. Robert Landers Software Engineer Utrecht NL