Re: Re: RFC Proposal: New assign value operator

I disagree. We don't need *yet another* assign operator while the alternative already exists and isn't that bad. $money->setAmount(29.99); is perfectly fine. Adding another assigning operator wouldn't make it more readable but less, you're effectively creating magic. On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 11:36 AM, Tom Oram <tom@scl.co.uk> wrote: > Hi everyone, > > I let this go before after getting a lot of friction to the idea but the > more I think about the more I think it would be really useful. > > Since writing the original message I've been looking at golang and found > that they have a := operation to infer type which is very similar to what I > proposed. > > I'd like to try and start some discussion about this again as I think it > would be very useful and really open up the possibility of having objects > for primitive types. > > I shall try and think up some examples to show where I think this could be > really useful and follow up this message with that shortly. > > Best regards to all, > TOM > On 25 Jun 2013 11:01, "Tom Oram" <tom@scl.co.uk> wrote: > > > Hi everyone, > > > > I've got an idea for an RFC proposal and from reading the instructions it > > looks like I should run it past you guys first. > > > > I have not made any contributions to PHP before although I have made some > > custom modifications in house in the past and while I'm no longer > familiar > > with the PHP code base I am confident I have the skills to implement this > > should it be accepted. > > > > What I want to propose is a new assignment operator which rather than > > setting the variable to completely new value it would update the value > > while maintaining the type. > > > > The main motivation for this is for easy assignment to value objects aka > > assignment operator overloading via a magic method (prehaps called > > __assign). > > > > Here is an example ( for now I will use the PASCAL style assignment > > operator := as the new operator as it is a know assignment operator and > > currently not used in PHP): > > > > // For a class defined like so... > > class MoneyValue > > { > > protected $amount; > > > > public function __assign($value) > > { > > $this->amount = $value; > > } > > } > > > > // The amount could then be assigned using the new operator like this > > > > $price = new MoneyValue(); > > > > $price := 29.99; > > > > While the primary focus would be for assignment operator overloading as I > > just displayed in the previous example, for consistency it could be used > > with scalar values to preserve type like so: > > > > // $str is now a string > > > > $str = 'Original String'; > > > > // Using the new assignment variable would cast the value being assigned > > to the variable's type > > // (in this case a string). So > > > > $str := 7; > > > > // Would be the equivalent to > > // > > // $str = (string) 7; > > // > > // $str === "7" > > > > > > Another quick example: > > > > $num = 5; > > > > $num := '12'; > > > > // Equivalent to > > // > > // $num = (int) '12'; > > // > > // $num === 12; > > > > So what do you guys think? > > > > If I get a good response I'll look into how to create a proper RFC and > > start trying to work out how to implement it. > > > > Many thanks and look forward to some responses, > > Tom > > > > > > -- > > **************************************************** > > PLEASE NOTE: For support requests please > > use support@scl.co.uk instead of emailing > > staff directly, this way your request is likely to > > be dealt with more efficiently. > > **************************************************** > > Tom Oram - SCL Internet Services > > PO Box 8, Cardigan, Ceredigion, SA41 3YA > > Website: http://www.scl.co.uk/ > > Tel: +44 (0) 1239 622 411 > > Fax: +44 (0) 1239 622428 > > Company Reg. No. 2441708 > > **************************************************** > > >