[RFC] Bare Name Array

Good evening, I have created an RFC containing two proposals. The first is a less cumbersome syntax for arrays. At present, string keys in arrays are declared like this: “stringKey” => 3, That’s a whole five characters, seven including spaces, for your most common case (identifier-like key). In JavaScript, you can avoid quoting the key for this common case. I propose something similar for PHP. Where the key fits the profile of IS_STRING, this RFC proposes that you can do this instead: stringKey: 3, Now it’s only two characters, three including spaces, for the most common case. It makes declaring arrays more convenient. The second proposal is a less cumbersome syntax for dereferencing arrays with string keys. At present, you need to do this: $myArray[“foobar”][“andSoOn”][“moreKeys”][“etc”] That’s four characters per dereference. Yet for objects, only two are needed: $myObject->foobar->andSoOn->moreProps->etc Thus, this RFC also proposes the following syntax for dereferencing arrays with string keys, where said keys fit the profile of IS_STRING: $myArray:>foobar:>andSoOn:>moreProps:>etc The :> syntax can be considered provisional, I’m open to better alternatives. The two proposals will be voted on separately, but I’m making a single RFC as they’re related and complement each other. The RFC is here: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/bare_name_arrays Please read it and tell me your thoughts. I already have a completely working patch with tests available. Thanks! -- Andrea Faulds http://ajf.me/