Re: [RFC] Duration class

On Sat, Jun 20, 2026, at 6:45 AM, ignace nyamagana butera wrote: > On Sat, Jun 20, 2026 at 1:01 PM Tim Düsterhus <tim@bastelstu.be> wrote: >> Hi >> >> Am 2026-06-19 12:25, schrieb ignace nyamagana butera: >> > However, I would advise against introducing Duration::add and >> > Duration::sub >> > methods. Instead, I would recommend providing a single method, >> > Duration::sum(Duration >> > ...$durations): self. >> > >> > Given that a Duration already carries a sign and may therefore be >> > either >> > positive or negative, the presence of separate add and sub methods >> > could >> > create an implicit and potentially misleading notion of directional >> > behavior. >> > >> > In contrast, a sum method using variadic arguments would allow multiple >> > Duration instances to be combined in a natural and consistent manner. >> > It >> > would also avoid implying any expectation regarding the resulting sign, >> > which may legitimately be either positive or negative depending on the >> > input values. >> >> Can you clarify if you expect the sum() method to be a >> static method >> or an instance method? If it's a static method, what would you expect >> Duration::sum() (with an empty list of durations) to result >> in? Should >> it be an Error, Duration::fromSeconds(0), or perhaps >> something >> entirely different? >> >> Best regards >> Tim Düsterhus >> >> PS: Please don't forget to reply below the quoted parts; and to cut the >> quoted parts to the relevant portion. > > Hi Tim, > > I would make the method static and if no argument is given I would > expect an ArgumentCountError to be thrown just like with array_sum. > > Best regards, > Ignace (Repeating here per Tim's request.) I am 100% against a static method for adding durations. That's entirely pointless. Even if we're just using methods and not operators, $dur3 = $dur1->add($dur2) is the way to go. --Larry Garfield