The problem with the backtick operator syntax is that it is an obscure but innocent-looking syntax for something that can have a huge, perhaps devastating, impact. It is rare enough in the field (as far as regular packages and applications are concerned) that you can spend 5 years working with PHP without ever learning about it. When you see it for the first time, you will be surprised that this actually executes the code like shell_exec(). This kind of surprise can make you shiver, and will leave a bad taste about the language.
The "<?=" and "<?php" also should really have no place in regular application code outside of templates. If we were to design the language from scratch (which we are not), we would surely not require to start each file with a "<?php". It is like a vestigial organ from the olden days.. But removing this in a BC-breaking way would be too costly atm.. The only thing I could imagine here is to introduce a distinct type of PHP file which does not require the initial "<?php", and where any further php open or close tags are illegal. Back to the backtick: If it was just about regular applications and packages, then I think we should get rid of it to prevent the kind of nasty surprise and bad taste I mentioned before. But as Zeev pointed out, this syntax might be more prevalent in admin scripts, which might have been running on a server for ages and the person who created them might no longer be around. Here the removal would have an unpleasant impact. The surprise from seeing the backtick operator will differ depending how you see the language: As an application language, as a shell enhancement tool, or as a template engine? PHP can be all three of that, but not every developer will think about it that way. -- Andreas On Tue, 8 Oct 2019 at 16:30, Chase Peeler <chasepee...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On Sun, Oct 6, 2019 at 9:18 AM Reinis Rozitis <r...@roze.lv> wrote: > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Olumide Samson [mailto:oludons...@gmail.com] > > > > > > it should be deprecated for exec usage since they both do same thing > > > > With that logic <?= should also be deprecated in favor of echo because it > > does the same thing and is hard to find in internet search engines (was in > > some other argument). > > > > > And we should deprecate the "print" command, since it's the same as echo. > We should deprecate 'printf', since you can just do 'echo sprintf' and, now > that I think about it, we should deprecate sprintf as well, since you can > just use vsprintf. It's a simple change too... sprintf($s,$a,$b,$c) => > vsprintf($s,[$a,$b,$c]);. I'm just it can be done with just a simple regex > search/replace. > > The fact that are SO many different ways to output text is REALLY confusing > for new developers. I think it's imperative we fix all of these items RIGHT > NOW. By doing so, I'm sure all the .NET developers that are talking smack > about PHP will suddenly denounce c# and start using PHP as well! > > > > > > > This isn't high cost breaking changes coz it has a verifiable, ready > > alternative to upgrade to without huge Regex searches. > > > > Since `` are used for literal strings (for poorly chosen reserved words as > > field, table names (which happens from time to time)) in MySQL (multiline) > > queries I doubt there is a simple way to distinguish and replace everything > > to exec(). > > > > rr > > > > -- > > PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List > > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > > > > > > -- > Chase Peeler > chasepee...@gmail.com -- PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
