Re: Return type hinting patch

On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 10:42:04PM +0200, Keryx Web wrote: > Alain Williams skrev: > >Taking it a bit further, if the function returns a reference (eg to its > >argument): > > > > function int &myfunction(int &$param) > > > >Alternative could be: > > function &int myfunction(int &$param) > > > >But I think that the first form is better. > > From one whose job it is to daily *teach* PHP. The first form is very > much better. > > And: > > Suggestions to omit the word "function" altogether will be a nightmare > from a teaching point of view. Convenience for experienced programmers > should not come at the cost of unnecessary heightening of the threshold > for newcomers. +1. We also don't want to break existing code or have two ways of doing the same thing (that is perl's job :-) ) > And: > > Once again, the main language besides PHP for most web developers is > JavaScript. Actionscript has been mentioned. The future of Actionscript > is ES 4. And from what I've recently read JavaScript is now the most > language used of all. Anyway, here's from Brendan E: > > function f(a : int, b : String, c : Object) : RetType > { > // arguments are guaranteed to match types > // return value must convert to or match RetType > } Nice in some ways, except that it is different from the way that type hinting works in PHP5 classes - again: keep to one way of doing things. ': RetType' might be possible, but it is very different from where type hints are given currently in PHP. Stick with: function int &myfunction(int &$param) > Personally I believe that the colon adds readability. *If* return type > hints are accepted I think this syntax is the best. (I do *not* think > PHP should add anything else from ES 4 when it comes to types.) -- 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 Chairman of UKUUG: http://www.ukuug.org/ #include <std_disclaimer.h>