On Fri, Sep 8, 2023 at 3:12 PM Lanre Waju <la...@online-presence.ca> wrote:
>
> Dear PHP Internals,
>
> I am writing to propose a new feature for PHP that introduces the
> concept of structs. This feature aims to provide a more concise and
> expressive way to define and work with immutable data structures. Below
> is a detailed description of the proposed syntax, usage, and behavior.
>
> Syntax
>
> struct Data
> {
> string $title;
> Status $status;
> ?DateTimeImmutable $publishedAt = null;
> }
> The Data struct is essentially represented as a readonly class with a
> constructor as follows:
>
>
> readonly class Data
> {
> public function __construct(
> public string $title,
> public Status $status,
> public ?DateTimeImmutable $publishedAt = null,
> ) {}
> }
> Assertions
> The Data struct will always be readonly.
> It has no methods besides the constructor.
> Constructors
> The Data struct can be constructed in three different ways, each of
> which allows for named or positional arguments, which can be mixed:
>
> 1.1 Class like
> $data = new Data('title', Status::PUBLISHED, new DateTimeImmutable());
>
> 1.2 Class like (Named Syntax)
> $data = new Data(title: 'title', status: Status::PUBLISHED, publishedAt:
> new DateTimeImmutable());
>
> 2.1 Proposed struct initialization syntax (Positional Arguments)
> $data = Data{'title', Status::PUBLISHED, new DateTimeImmutable()};
>
> 2.2 Proposed struct initialization syntax (Named Syntax)
> $data = Data{title: 'title', status: Status::PUBLISHED, publishedAt: new
> DateTimeImmutable()};
>
> 3.1 Anonymous Struct (Named Arguments)
>
> $data = struct {
> string $title;
> Status $status;
> ?DateTimeImmutable $publishedAt = null;
> }('title', Status::PUBLISHED, new DateTimeImmutable());
> 3.2 Anonymous Struct (Named Arguments - Named Syntax)
>
> $data = struct {
> string $title;
> Status $status;
> ?DateTimeImmutable $publishedAt = null;
> }(title: 'title', status: Status::PUBLISHED, publishedAt: new
> DateTimeImmutable());
> Nesting
> The proposed feature also supports nesting of structs. For example:
>
>
> final class HasNestedStruct
> {
> NestedStruct {
> string $title;
> Status $status;
> ?DateTimeImmutable $publishedAt = null;
> };
>
> public function __construct(
> public string $string,
> public Data $normalStruct,
> public NestedStruct $nestedStruct = NestedStruct{'title',
> Status::PUBLISHED, new DateTimeImmutable()},
> public struct InlineNamed { int $x} $inlineNamed = {x: 1},
> public { int $x, int $y} $inlineAnonymous = {x: 1, y: 2},
> ) {}
> }
> This proposal aims to enhance the readability and maintainability of
> code by providing a more concise and expressive way to work with
> immutable data structures in PHP.
> I believe this feature will be a valuable addition to the language as it
> not only opens the door for future enhancements (eg. typed json
> deserialization, etc.), but should also help reduce reliance on arrays
> by providing a more expressive alternative.
>
> Your feedback and suggestions are highly appreciated, and we look
> forward to discussing this proposal further within the PHP internals
> community.
>
> Sincerely
> Lanre
>
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>
FWIW (and it isn't worth much), I'm not a fan of the braces styles
(2.1, 2.2) as it is very non-php-ish.
It'd be great to still have methods, e.g., $data->isAfter($date) or
something. Otherwise, it isn't very useful except as typed arrays,
without any of the usefulness of the array functions.
Also, what if I want a new $data object but with slightly different
property values?
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