This proposal looks way too specific to me. I'm a big fan of returning early -- but also of throwing early, breaking early and continuing early. Supporting this just for returns seems odd / inconsistent to me.
I agree with this sentiment, and I'll update the PR accordingly and this will be reflected when I make the RFC itself.
(Throw feels different as its parameter is not optional and is always a complex type, and is in a different area of the parser... But I'll look more deeply at adding that soon.)
That said, I don't think this syntax solves a real problem in the first place. If it solves a problem, it's mostly a problem of PHP coding styles being a bit overzealous when it comes to formatting requirements for early return/break/continue/throw. And that's not a problem that needs solving at the language level...
I think we could say the same thing about most new additions: fn arrow functions, str_starts_with/str_ends_with, trailing comma in lists & function calls, str_contains(), flexible (indented) heredocs, list reference assignment, native de-structuring.. just to name a few that all fit into the same kind of quality of life category. Nearly all of those were achievable via some kind of syntax before their addition, but I think we can agree we're better off having them, than not- even if one chooses not to use them.
Having been programming with PHP for 22+ years now, and making it a point to evolve my tastes/preferences with the changing language and whatever the prevalent practices are in the community (and other languages), my desire for including these quality of life improvements remains quite high as it keeps the language interesting and competitive.
Put another way, as someone who's come to really appreciate the aesthetics and clarity of intent of code,.. and having seen this is some places in the wild already I feel are successful, I personally feel its a good thing to perhaps to run through the RFC process for inclusion in 8.
Thanks! Ralph Schindler -- PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
