Hello Jochem, Tuesday, October 19, 2004, 4:34:40 PM, you wrote:
> As a point of interest, the error message you get if you pass something > to a function which has classhint on the relevant arg which is not an > object is as follows: > "Fatal error: Argument 1 must not be null in ....." > Which is not strictly correct, but it got me thinking: maybe the guy > that wrote the message was thinking ahead of a time when passing null > for a classhinted arg would be allowed? You think too much. At the time the message was written we weren't able to access the typename correctly or we were to lazy to do so. > I don't see the big deal in being allowed to set default values on > typehinted args - from my point of view this would have the result that > objects or the given class or the default value is allowed and nothing > else. I also don't see it as PHP's responsibility to stop me writing > code which experienced programmers would balk at e.g. > myFunc(MyObj $o = 'fooBar') This code makes no sense at all and this bullshit is detectable at compile time. Since the default value cannot be anything dynamic we will catch such erros during compile time in order to strengthen code stability. We won't like to called fools because of allowing such mistakes. > In practice it makes no difference what the default value is or even if > it is a value at all because the usefulness of the default is being able > to check whether the object was passed or not (while letting the engine > do the classhint check) This means that the check which leds to an error would be done anyways but at runtime. > I am no PHP hero, but I'm not a noob either - and I think the argument > that syntax would be confusing for beginners is a little silly - I > remember trying to figure out the basics of OO, that was a nightmare in > its own right. the point being the entry level to this functionality is > way above what a beginner is capable of - if they can figure out how to > do basic OO [in PHP] then they will be able to figure out using > classhinted args with optional default values Keeping the low spirit does not mean we cannot support good oo neither does it mean we can allow mistakes. best regards marcus -- PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
