[Discussion][RFC Idea] Cast Variables by Reference

Hello, I'm Joseph, or Seph for short. I'm a long time listener, but a first-time caller. I've had an idea rattling around in my noggin for a while that I'd like your feedback on: As a developer, I would like to have variables of one type cast to another type automatically so that I do not need to assign the variable to itself. Instead of the following: ```php $price = '5.0123'; ... $price = (float) $price; var_dump($price); // Result: float: 5.0123 ``` What if we could do this instead? ```php $price = '5.0123'; ... (float) $price; var_dump($price); // Result: float: 5.0123 ``` If everyone thinks this a good idea, I would be willing to put together an RFC and work on the implementation myself, with guidance from an experienced core developer. I have no experience with C/C++, other than a brief foray more than twenty years ago, but I am willing to learn. Thank you for your consideration! Also, a huge thank you to everyone who has made PHP what it is today! (**Note**: No AI was used in the writing of this message.)