> On 17. Nov 2024, at 06:14, Rob Landers <rob@bottled.codes> wrote: > > Hello internals, > > I'm ready as I'm going to be to introduce to you: "Records" > https://wiki.php.net/rfc/records! > > Records allow for a lightweight syntax for defining value objects. These are > superior to read-only classes due to having value semantics and far less > boilerplate, for most things developers use read-only classes for. They are > almost as simple to use as arrays (and provide much of the same semantics), > but typed. > > As an example, if you wanted to define a simple User record: > > record User(string $emailAddress, int $databaseId); > > Then using it is as simple as calling it like a function, with the & symbol: > > $rob = &User("rob@bottled.codes <mailto:rob@bottled.codes>", 1); > > Since it has value semantics, we can get another instance, and it is strongly > equal to another of the same parameters: > > $otherRob = &User("rob@bottled.codes <mailto:rob@bottled.codes>", 1); > assert($otherRob === $rob); // true > > Records may also have methods (even hooks), use traits, and implement > interfaces: > > record Vector3(float $x, float $y, $z) implements Vector { > use Vector; > public float magnitude { > get => return sqrt($this->x ** 2 + $this->y ** 2 + $this->z ** 2) > } > } > > Further, an automatic (but overridable) "with" method is generated for every > record. This allows you to get a new record similar to a given one, very > easily: > > record Planet(string $name); > > $earth = &Planet("earth"); > $mars = $earth->with(name: "mars"); > > The depth of records was an immense exploration of the PHP engine, language > design, and is hopefully quite powerful for the needs of everyday PHP and > niche libraries. I took care in every aspect and tried to cover every > possible case in the RFC, but I still probably missed some things. I plan on > having a full implementation done by the end of the year and open to a vote > by the end of January, but I'd like to open the discussion up here first. > Love it or hate it, I'd like to hear your thoughts. > > — Rob
Hey Rob, You asked somewhere for feedback on the syntax conflict. I would like to propose `Planet::(‘earth’)`. The double-colon is what we are already used to for factory methods. Since you called the inline-constructor a “factory function” in the RFC, I feel it would be a good fit. Currently, this is a syntax error. Cheers, Nick
