Re: [RFC] Fix inconsistent behavior of $this variable

On 05/24/2016 11:57 AM, Rowan Collins wrote:

On 24/05/2016 06:45, Jesse Schalken wrote:

I'm curious, what is it about $this that makes it special in the first place? Can't it be a normal local variable that happens to already be assigned at the start of a method?

There are a few things that take advantage of its specialness, e.g. - binding a closure to an object changes the meaning of $this in a way very different from assigning it into scope with "use($this)" - a method declared static can detect and throw errors on anything referencing $this - when calling parent::foo() from an instance method, the value of $this needs to be set appropriately on the new method; being able to reassign $this could lead to some odd behaviour there Python's approach is certainly valid, and leads to some different useful properties, I'm sure, but it's a very different design, not just a more relaxed attitude to assignment.

As of $this is a very special variable where only the engine is (or should) be allowed to change. I would like to ask you if it wouldn't be better to NOT define $this as a special variable including a lot of code to make sure this variable doesn't get re-assigned but instead define this as a keyword like self where the syntax makes sure it can't be re-assigned and it's less special and simpler to learn for beginners. I know it would be a huge BC break but for me it sounds more "right" and could also be introduced in parallel to $this for a long long time but without a lot of overplayed code for $this. Thanks, Marc

Regadrds,