Re: [RFC] E_STRICT

Marcus Boerger wrote: > Hello internals, > > right now the fate of E_STRICT error messages is uncertain. A few > people think those should change to fatal after a reasonable amount of > time, is two years (e.g. 5.0.0) reasonable. A few even think a minor > version like 5.1 to 5.2 is enough but the majortiy (at least i guess > so) wants the change only on a major version change like 5.0 to 6.0. > > Currently the manual says: > <manual> > 2048 E_STRICT (integer) Run-time notices. Enable to have PHP suggest > changes to your code which will ensure the best interoperability and > forward compatibility of your code. since PHP 5 > </manual> > > So the RFC goes: Extend the manual to specify that issues reported by > E_STRICT messages are most likely to become fatal errors in the next > major version. I recommend at least 1.5 years notice of exactly which E_STRICT will become E_FATAL, and document it as a front-page item at php.net Anything less could be a real problem. Currently, I think it is fair to say that downloads of PEAR approximately reflect the state of affairs of the average PHP developer on the cutting edge. Yesterday, we had ~8000 downloads of PEAR packages by people using PHP 4, as opposed to ~20000 downloads of PEAR packages by people using PHP 5 and above (the majority being PHP 5.1 by a large margin). In other words, almost a third of our most active users are still stuck in PHP 4. The number of these users is rapidly declining. When I began keeping track in early December 2005, almost half the downloads were PHP version 4 including a significant minority of PHP 4.2 users (down to about 1 per day now). At this rate, I would say it is safe to introduce some E_FATAL in about 1.5-2 years, and people will still upgrade to 6.0. Greg