What happens if I perform array-like operations on an object
implementing __toArray() from this RFC?
For example:
$obj["foo"] = 42;
or:
$bar = $obj["foo"];
(Imagine these examples are perhaps within a loop iterating a collection
of objects)
Which operations do and do not work? As they'd be operating on a new
from-cast array, I assume they would not be able to effect the original
object (properties), but is this what people expect?
What I'm trying to get at here is: Does this RFC create opportunities
for bugs arising because objects are accidentally treated as arrays and
users would no longer receive any kind of warning or error from such
code when they would have in the past?
(Aside: Could this get even more interesting where a loop involving
references being (ab)used is involved? Experienced developers know you
should avoid references, but many newer developers use them - either
through misunderstanding the language or copying others and not actually
understanding what they're doing. While, anecdotally from helping others
in various channels, this occurs less than it did in the PHP 5 era, it
does still occur.)
If so, I believe this is obviously bad. If not, I believe this is also
bad because the above example do not work as someone (particularly newer
users) might expect. The language is creating something which sometimes,
maybe, acts like an array, but not always.
The other problem I have with this type of magic on objects is that
people don't usually mean "to array", they mean "to array for specific
purpose" - eg. "to array for database record" or "to array for API
output". Using a magic method for this obfuscates the purpose of the
returned array and could lead to problems, such as accidental data
leakage, from cross-usage.
AllenJB
On 04/02/2020 13:03, Steven Wade wrote:
Hi all,
I’d like to officially open my __toArray() RFC <https://wiki.php.net/rfc/to-array> up
to discussion. I’ve delayed changing the status until I had more time to respond to the
discussion, but since it’s been brought up again
<https://externals.io/message/108351>, I figured now is the best time.
https://wiki.php.net/rfc/to-array <https://wiki.php.net/rfc/to-array>
Cheers,
Steven Wade
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