Re: Module or Class Visibility, Season 2

On 14 May 2025 22:27:32 BST, Rob Landers <rob@bottled.codes> wrote: > >As written, that simply isn't possible in PHP because there is only one class allowed with >a given name. Names of classes are global. I don't think this has to be the case, though. >Different languages take different approaches to this. For example, JavaScript allows each module to >"close over" its dependencies so each module can import its own version of dependencies. I would say that JavaScript doesn't just *allow* this, as an added feature, it *requires* it, as a fundamental design decision: - In JavaScript, Python, etc, when you declare a function or class, you are creating an anonymous object, and assigning it to a local variable. Code reuse requires you to pass that object around. - In PHP, Java, C#, etc, when you declare a function or class, you are adding a permanent named item to a global list. Code reuse is about knowing the global names of things. It's worth noting that JavaScript didn't need to add *any* features to make NPM, Bower, etc work; everything they do is based on the fact that declarations are objects which can be passed around at will. That's why I don't think "JavaScript can do it" is relevant, because the *way* JavaScript does it is impossible in PHP. We're much better off looking at how *PHP* works, and what problems we're actually trying to solve. And that in turn is why I was reaching for Linux containers as an alternative analogy, to think about the problem without jumping to the wrong solution. Rowan Tommins [IMSoP]