[RFC] Deprecate and Remove Bareword (Unquoted) Strings

Good evening all! Currently, if the constant FROB_ACTIVE is not defined, the code "echo FROB_ACTIVE;" results in an E_NOTICE and the string 'FROB_ACTIVE' being displayed. I would like to propose that this be changed to an E_WARNING in PHP 7.2, and to an Error in PHP 8.0. My reasoning for this includes: - consistency with other "undefined" errors, including the otherwise identical "echo \FROB_ACTIVE;" - the fallback to string appears to be largely undocumented except to discourage its use - the error can mask serious bugs, such as when mis-typing keywords I have tried to anticipate some of the questions that will be raised, so have drafted an RFC rather than trying to fit all the detail into one e-mail: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/deprecate-bareword-strings Please read my proposal, and let me know your thoughts. I have placed the RFC "under discussion", but will be happy to modify it based on feedback, and am in no haste to put it to a vote. Regards, -- Rowan Collins [IMSoP]