On Sat, Jul 10, 2021 at 11:10 AM Max Semenik <maxsem.w...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've been thinking about extending PHP's cast syntax to user-defined types,
> e.g. not only (int)$foo but also (MyClass)$foo. Currently, a T_STRING in
> parentheses is always treated as a constant - would it be acceptable to
> hijack this syntax when used in unary operation context, i.e. "(" T_STRING
> ")" expr? If not, any other alternatives?
>
To answer your question without commenting on the wider discussion: No,
it's not possible to use this syntax. C-style cast syntax is hopelessly
ambiguous -- there's a reason why modern languages always pick a different
syntax for type casts.
To give a simple example, (MyClass) (CastArg) is already valid PHP syntax
and performs a call to the function stored in constant MyClass, with the
argument CastArg.
Regards,
Nikita
