On Wed, Feb 06, 2008 at 06:47:23PM +0100, Stefan Priebsch wrote: > Sam Barrow schrieb: > > If anyone has any objections to a scalar type hint please raise a > > valid point. > > Chris Stockton schrieb: > >This library would probably have ~300(String) + ~110(Int) > >~40(Resource) ~30(Bool) ~10(Float) = 500 less function calls, and much > >cleaner code if there was type hinting. > > I may be short-sighted here, but does type adding hinting not just push > the problem to the library user? In strictly typed languages the
Ah, it depends on what you see type hinting for ... which is why I am not sure how good the above tests are. Type hinting does not obviate application type testing of fields from forms (which are all strings), that still needs to be done. Type hinting is for 'lower level' code that expects its arguments to be of certain types ... it is to catch the code where a programmer accidentally (or lazily does not check) passes the wrong type ... if this were not checked untold problems could arise in obscure places. > compiler enforces type consistency, in PHP any type inconsistency yields > a runtime error, thus forcing the library user to explicitly type cast, > wrap every library call into a try-catch statement or use a runtime > error handler (which in turn can throw an exception, taking us back to > try-catch)? > > From an overall perspective on the PHP code, I would rather have the > type checks _once_ inside the functions/methods, instead of multiple > times on every call. But you are assuming that you can identify the 'right' places to put the checks ... not always easy, especially in code that changes. -- Alain Williams Linux Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer. +44 (0) 787 668 0256 http://www.phcomp.co.uk/ Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information: http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php Chairman of UKUUG: http://www.ukuug.org/ #include <std_disclaimer.h> -- PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
