Is it possible to take a page out of the database engine's handbook and tie a charset to a namespace like charsets are tied to tables?
namespace myNamespace charset=utf8 { ... } Then when no charset is defined it defaults to current PHP semantics. Win-win? Cheers, Rob. On Wed, 2008-01-23 at 11:28 -0800, Rasmus Lerdorf wrote: > I don't disagree with this, and that is actually why I insisted on > having the unicode-semantics switch from the early days of the Unicode > discussions, so you can blame me, again, if you consider it a bad design > decision. > > My take on it was that just about all ISPs would run with Unicode > semantics off and that the Unicode semantics on mode was more geared for > large standalone applications and sites that wanted the luxury of > working natively in their chosen character set without needing to always > jump through hoops. > > If we get rid of the switch, then I agree that we can't make the default > string IS_UNICODE. We would be crippling the implementation and taking > a step backwards in terms of leading the way in Unicode adoption. The > longterm goal for just about everyone has got to be a "Unicode > everywhere" approach. It used to be that the Web was primarily a > Western single-byte charset phenomena, but that hasn't been the case for > years. All major applications out there have implemented various hacks > to deal with these issues, some with more success than others. > > This is what PHP does. We take common Web development pains and try to > reduce them. Think back to the pains of XML parsing in PHP 3 and even > in PHP 4 compared to today. > > Ultimately we need to get to Unicode everywhere, and the Unicode > semantics switch was an acknowledgement that the world isn't quite ready > for that yet. But it sounds like the world isn't ready for the switch > either. Without it, I am afraid we will never get there, and that may > just be something we have to live with. > > -Rasmus > > Chris Stockton wrote: > > I partially agree, I have been watching this discussion and it's funny > > how we have such a class of high end developers saying to break old > > PHP code. But, the majority of the success of PHP is not due to this > > small class of high end developers, it's due to it's availability in a > > shared hosting environment, and the ease of use for beginners, and the > > oodles of fairly poor quality code that is easy to copy and paste onto > > peoples websites. > > > > Look at the adoption of php4, many webhosts haven't even updated to > > PHP5 completely due to things like register_globals and small > > backwards compatibility breakage. The list of problems is small and > > correctable, if you give system engineers at all of these hosting > > companies the choice of A. Upgrade to php6 and drive support calls > > through the roof, or B. Stay at PHP4/5 for eternity until a more > > (insert your complaints / rants here) language comes along to dethrone > > PHP. > > > > Problem is, PHP has been built to great success based on it's early > > foundation, but now a group of high class developers want it to be > > more then PHP was built onto. You will sacrifice it's success if > > backwards compatibility is not just, broke, but obliterated. Why > > change PHP's philosophy? Keep it easy for the new user, keep it > > successful, and make me work a little more when I want to implement my > > "high class" development methodologies. I don't mind, I do it already. > > > > I write this as a "high class" developer. > > > > -1 > > > > -Chris > > > > On Jan 22, 2008 7:32 PM, Richard Lynch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> On Mon, January 21, 2008 8:38 am, Antony Dovgal wrote: > >>> 6 reasons why we must to get rid of The Switch ASAP > >>> ---------------------------------------------------- > >> I was +1... > >> > >> Until folks started posting that old PHP scripts won't run as-is in > >> PHP 6?... > >> > >> That's just daft... > >> > >> When my webhost upgrades to PHP 6, I need all my old scripts to just > >> keep on chugging away, as much as possible... > >> > >> I really think we're stuck with the default "string" being an > >> old-school binary string, unless you want to lose a LOT of users in a > >> hurry, or have PHP 5 stick around forever and ever. > >> > >> -- > >> Some people have a "gift" link here. > >> Know what I want? > >> I want you to buy a CD from some indie artist. > >> http://cdbaby.com/from/lynch > >> Yeah, I get a buck. So? > >> > >> > >> -- > >> PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List > >> To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > >> > >> > > > -- ........................................................... SwarmBuy.com - http://www.swarmbuy.com Leveraging the buying power of the masses! ........................................................... -- PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php