Your answer should have been just that. The overwhelming majority amongst the principal developers of PHP voiced an opinion against it. I can certainly understand the need for a meritocracy in PHP's current state. The benefit of annotations for the masses vs performance hit and complexity isn't currently worth it.
Saying developers needing annotations for specific functionality (e.g. SOAP) should make do with phpdoc sends a bad message. On Tue, Nov 16, 2010 at 1:10 AM, Zeev Suraski <z...@zend.com> wrote: > I hope I won't stir the pot too much, but with all due respect to the vote > of at-best a two digit subset of an arbitrary 3000+ subscribers to > internals, there's an overwhelming majority amongst the principal developers > of PHP that voiced an opinion against it. While we have no official rules > or structures for voting features into PHP, PHP being a meritocracy, that > should be enough to put this RFC to bed. > > Zeev > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: guilhermebla...@gmail.com [mailto:guilhermebla...@gmail.com] > > Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2010 4:28 AM > > To: Zeev Suraski > > Cc: PHP internals > > Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] PHP 5.4 - Meta attribute (aka. Annotations) > support > > discussion > > > > @Zeev: That topic was related to an already built patch, which some where > in > > favor, some against. That discussion lead to nowhere. > > So I opened a thread topic by topic for some democracy approval. As soon > as > > we reach some reasonable consensus, we can start another patch > > implementation based on what we end up with this thread. > > > > If result of the poll says "OK" to meta attribute, then we can discuss > next > > topic (possible implementations). > > Until then, I'd rather appreciate everyone to stick to their votes > instead of > > revamp another discussion that lead to nothing. > > > > BTW, I forgot to add my vote: > > > > +1 > > > > On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 8:22 PM, Zeev Suraski <z...@zend.com> wrote: > > > I don't see a point in repeating the discussion we've already had on > that > > topic several weeks ago. There needs to be an overwhelmingly good reason > > to add a brand new syntax to the language, a whole branch of it in the > case of > > annotations - and there simply isn't. > > > > > > Zeev > > > > > >> -----Original Message----- > > >> From: guilhermebla...@gmail.com [mailto:guilhermebla...@gmail.com] > > >> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 7:08 PM > > >> To: PHP internals > > >> Subject: [PHP-DEV] PHP 5.4 - Meta attribute (aka. Annotations) > > >> support discussion > > >> > > >> Hi folks, > > >> > > >> I'll start a series of topics (in this thread) about meta attribute > (aka. > > >> Annotations) discussion. > > >> So as soon as we agree on each topic I'll open another point to be > > discussed. > > >> Only when we reach some consensus I'll open another topic discussion. > > >> I suggest to have a poll for each topic, so we can do some democratic > > >> internals decision. I'd reduce the scope of voters to only people > > >> with PHP karma. > > >> > > >> The first topic to be defined is: Does PHP need meta attribute > support? > > >> > > >> Any language is built at the top of syntax, words, semantics and > context. > > >> We cannot define it as a language if we don't have these 4 parts well > > >> fit together. > > >> For a simple sentence like: I am all ears, we can easily identify > these parts. > > >> But the real meaning of this sentence (context) is only achieved with > > >> another part of the language: signifier-significate. > > >> A signifier is an atomic form, material element, visible, sensitive. > > >> A significate is an idea, semantic content, conceptual element, not > > >> sensitive perceptive. > > >> > > >> This important part is only reminded when we get back to semantics, > > >> specifically when talking about idiomatic expressions, a metaphor in > > >> our sample. The meaning will only work if we have the context, a > > >> known information. Our sentence would mean that spoker person only > > >> have ears, while the true meaning is that he/she is paying attention. > > >> A computer language doesn't differ from a language by any means. We > > >> have tokens (words), a syntax, semantic. But the lack of > > >> contextualization brings a hole on language and how your application > > >> should behave. This behavior can be achieved by many different ways; > > >> the simplest way is known as meta information. > > >> > > >> Considering you have a lack of idiomatic expressions knowledge of > > >> someone that is reading. He'd think person only have ears, but if you > > >> meta notify him that it is a metaphor, he'd try to find a different > meaning. > > Example: > > >> (Metaphor) I am all ears. > > >> > > >> Now that we find how meta-information can benefit languages, it is > > >> time to understand how meta-information can benefit a computer > > language. > > >> > > >> A good example is define a Service that validates Domain Objects. > > >> Imagining a scenario where you have a User class that holds email and > > >> password. Email and password fields must be validated, for example, > > >> email as an email and password with at least 6 chars. A generic > > >> validation service could not have the User validation hardcoded > > >> inside the service, so the solution would be an external factor that > > >> explains to service how to validate the DO. One of the possible > > >> implementations would be a UserValidator class that contains > > >> validation rules for each field. This external factor is a good > > >> sample of meta-information. But how would a meta attribute would solve > > this situation? > > >> A Service could simple retrieve the validation instructions by > > >> Reflecting the class which instance is going to be validated. > > >> Basically, to validate a Domain Object, it is simply required to add > > >> validation rules on desired attributes. Example: > > >> > > >> class User { > > >> <Email Meta Information> > > >> protected $email; > > >> > > >> <At least 6 chars Meta Information> > > >> protected $password; > > >> } > > >> > > >> *NOTE*: Please understand that this do not enter in any > > >> implementation details. It is not time (yet) to talk baout docblock, > new > > syntax, etc. > > >> Scope now is simpler than that. > > >> > > >> Now that is possible to see how meta attribute support could benefit > > >> a language, I compiled a simple list of known projects and how can > > >> they benefit of meta support: > > >> - phpUnit Providing meta functionality for test cases, examples: > > >> @dataProvider for test data iteration, @expectedException for > > >> catching exceptions, etc. > > >> - Doctrine For Object-Relational mapping, examples: @Entity, > > >> @OneToOne, @Id, etc. > > >> - Zend Framework Server classes Used to automate mappings for > > >> XML-RPC, SOAP, etc. > > >> - FLOW3 for dependency injection and validation > > >> - Symfony2 for validation and routing rules > > >> - Others: Validation, Functional Behavior injection (which could take > > >> advantage of Traits), etc. > > >> > > >> > > >> Poll will be opened for voting for 7 days (1 week) starting from now. > > >> Poll will be closed next Monday at 5pm GMT. > > >> Question: Does PHP need meta attribute support? > > >> > > >> Happy voting! > > >> > > >> -- > > >> Guilherme Blanco > > >> Mobile: +55 (16) 9215-8480 > > >> MSN: guilhermebla...@hotmail.com > > >> São Paulo - SP/Brazil > > >> > > >> -- > > >> PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List To unsubscribe, > > visit: > > >> http://www.php.net/unsub.php > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Guilherme Blanco > > Mobile: +55 (16) 9215-8480 > > MSN: guilhermebla...@hotmail.com > > São Paulo - SP/Brazil > -- Thanks, Will Fitch Director of Operations | Quepasa.com 931.205.8242 | will.fi...@quepasacorp.com Twitter: twitter.com/willfitch
