Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=60372&edit=1
ID: 60372 Comment by: ninzya at inbox dot lv Reported by: ninzya at inbox dot lv Summary: Context call feature Status: Open Type: Feature/Change Request Package: Scripting Engine problem Operating System: Any PHP Version: Irrelevant Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: So basically if the feature gets support from the community, I could then prepare an RFC describing the proposal in detail. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2011-11-24 14:59:23] ninzya at inbox dot lv An example on how the proposed syntactic sugar would improve code readability. Before: if( $user->hasPermission( $user::PERM_EDIT, $user->getProfile())) { // has access to edit own profile } After: if( $user->hasPermission( :PERM_EDIT, :getProfile())) { // has access to edit own profile } Before: $config->setSettings([ $config::SOME_TTL =>10, $config::SOME_PATH =>"/var/www/...", $config::SOMETHING_OTHER =>0xFF ]); After: $config->setSettings([ :SOME_TTL =>10, :SOME_PATH =>"/var/www/...", :SOMETHING_OTHER =>0xFF ]); Note that use of ":" inside array definition contextually resolves arguments as well. In the last example the ":SOME_TTL" syntax refers to the "SOME_TTL" class constant of $config object (i.e. same as "$config::SOME_TTL") ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2011-11-24 14:50:08] ninzya at inbox dot lv Description: ------------ I'd like to propose an extension to PHP syntax, that would allow programmer to avoid code duplication in some cases and, therefore, would make PHP code more readable. My idea is to extend dynamic call operator ("->method()") add a "context" syntax to it's arguments. The syntax would mean that the argument's value is located in context of a specific object - the argument is either a property or method. The syntax could be as follows: $obj->area( :$x, :$y); Note the ":" (colon) character in front of argument. The colon means that the argument for the call is a property of object that the invoked method belongs to. In this case both arguments are actually "$obj->x" and "$obj->y" values. Syntax for method calls is as follows: $obj->area( :x(), :y()); In this case both arguments are "$obj->x()" and "$obj->x()". The following more complex example: $obj->area( :mt_rand( 1, :$x), $y); Here mt_rand() is a method of $obj (i.e. "$obj->mt_rand()", because colon character is preceding the function name)) and since ":mt_rand()" is resolved to "$obj->mt_rand()", it's ":$x" argument is resolved to "$obj->x" as well. However, a call like this: mt_rand( :$x); should yield a runtime error because this is not a dynamic call and the argument can not be resolved. Test script: --------------- class Test { public $x =5; public function y() { return 10; } public function area( $x, $y, $name) { echo $name .': ' .$x .' x ' .$y; } public function makeName( $name) { return '#' .$name; } } $test =new Test; $test->area( :$x, :y(), :makeName( 'test')); Expected result: ---------------- #test: 5 x 10 Actual result: -------------- Not implemented yet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=60372&edit=1