Hi Internals, I stumbled upon a difference in behavior between PHP >=7.0 and HHVM when it comes to object-to-string conversion for objects not implementing a `__toString` which caught me by surprise.
It's probably a pretty common scenario, especially for inexperienced PHP developers, as all it takes is to accidentally name your method `_toString()` or `toString()` rather than `__toString()`. When trying to use an object which does not implement a __toString(), PHP will emit an E_RECOVERABLE_ERROR where HHVM throws an Error. See https://3v4l.org/WtJff for a minimal example. HHVM's behavior makes more sense to me here. To me, PHP's behavior is especially unexpected if you consider the behavior in https://3v4l.org/lF7gR where PHP *does* throw a (Type)Error because of the typehint. Note this example works if you change `$a` for an instance of something with a proper `__toString()`-method. I searched through the discussions on the original 'Exceptions in the engine' RFC and couldn't find any mention of this specific case so I was wondering if anyone remembers if this was deliberately kept this way? I'm not sure if I have the skill to write a patch, I'm willing to try, but it'd be a waste of time if there is some good reason for having kept this an E_RECOVERABLE_ERROR I'm unaware of. Met vriendelijke groet, Marlies Heijkoop ----- MobielWerkt BV / Belsimpel.nl T. +31 (0)50 210 34 04 E. marlies.heijk...@belsimpel.nl I. https://www.belsimpel.nl Bezoekadres: Waagstraat 1 9712 JX, Groningen Postadres: Postbus 3023 9701 DA, Groningen Op deze e-mail is een disclaimer van toepassing, ga naar www.belsimpel.nl/disclaimer_email A disclaimer is applicable to this e-mail, please refer to www.belsimpel.nl/disclaimer_email -- PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
