Syntactical change to Scalar Type Hints RFC

Hi, I’m posting this in a new thread since people might (reasonably) be ignoring further responses to the [VOTE] thread. I’m considering a small change to the Scalar Type Hints RFC, specifically about syntax. Quite a few people have said they don’t like the declare() syntax, and it’s easy to see why. It’s rather verbose, it has all the quirks of declare() (such as block syntax, not respecting scope), and it’s rather ugly. Instead, I’m wondering if the following might be better: <?php strict Which would be used like so: <?php strict function foobar(): int { return 1.0; // error! } It’d be a per-file directive, so there’d be zero mixing of modes within one file, and you’d avoid the quirks of declare(). It’s also a lot shorter, and it resembles Hack’s syntax: <?hh // strict Of course, changing this would mean restarting the vote, but it’s only been three days, we’re less than a quarter of the way through voting. Thoughts? Thanks! (By the way, I’d appreciate it if this thread didn’t turn into yet another discussion of how and whether scalar type hints are a bad/good idea. We already have at least four threads on that subject. I’m just considering a specific change of syntax.) -- Andrea Faulds http://ajf.me/