Re: [SPAM] Re: [PHP-DEV] Syntactic improvement to array

On Tue, Feb 06, 2007 at 09:41:34AM -0500, Robert Cummings wrote: > On Tue, 2007-02-06 at 14:08 +0000, Ford, Mike wrote: > > On 05 February 2007 17:29, Brian Moon wrote: > > > That is why you have coding standards. Our doucment states that this > > > should be written as: > > > > > > $a = array( > > > 1 => array('pears', 'apples'), > > > 2 => array('juice', 'oranges') > > > ); > > > > > > I believe in either syntax, proper formatting of complex data > > > can solve > > > the readablity problems. > > > > Solve, no. Alleviate, yes. > > > > Given the above, the layout tells me there's some kind of structure > > going on, but I still have to actually *read* it to discover > > that there are arrays involved (and where they start and end). > > > > With this version: > > > > $a = [ > > 1 => ['pears', 'apples'], > > 2 => ['juice', 'oranges'] > > ]; > > > > I can take one glance and tell there are nested arrays involved, and > > what their scopes are -- I'd say my comprehension speed is at least > > an order of magnitude faster! > > > > *That* makes this syntax a no-brainer for me, personally ;-) > > Ummm, you still had to read it. One "glance" just so happens to involve > the brain grokking the content, just like reading. I must agree that the [] is easier/quicker to read than array(), but is it really worth it ... too many syntaxes for the same thing ? Anyway: it makes php look like perl -- and that would never do :-) -- Alain Williams Linux Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer. +44 (0) 787 668 0256 http://www.phcomp.co.uk/ Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information: http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php #include <std_disclaimer.h>