RFC Codex

These are some notes on PHP RFCs, why some were declined, and what others might need for them to be implemented.

The purpose of these documents is to avoid information from being lost and to try to avoid conversations needing to be repeated multiple times on PHP internals.

Things still being discussed

• Array key casting
• Auto-capture closure aka multi-line blocks
• Better web sapi
• Call site error or exception control
• Chained comparison operators
• Class method callable
• Class scoping improvements
• Closure self-reference
• Consistent callables
• Generics
• Method overloading
• Multiple return types
• Non-extending code re-use
• Out parameters
• Pipe operator
• Standardise core library
• Static class initialization
• Strict mode and internal engine callbacks
• Strings/encoding is terrible
• Strong typing
• Structs
• Template string literals
• Throws declarations
• Tuple return declarations
• Type aliasing
• Typedef callable signatures

Ideas that overcame their challenges

PHP is actually getting better. These are all things that used to be pipe-dreams, but are now in PHP core.

• Annotations
• Briefer closure syntax
• Co- and contra-variance
• Enums
• Immutables
• Named params
• Null type
• Referencing functions
• Ternary right associative
• Union types

Things that are probably moot

PHP is actually getting better, but that means that some solutions to problems have become pretty moot, as they seek to solve problems that are now less of a problem.

• Consistent callables
• Explicit defaults

Misc notes

Someone asked for a summary of the general issues with the PHP SPL .