Edit report at http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=53095&edit=1
ID: 53095 Comment by: uramihsayibok at gmail dot com Reported by: justinmitchell at iinet dot net dot au Summary: Optional type hinting on variables Status: Open Type: Feature/Change Request Package: Java related Operating System: Nix/Win PHP Version: 5.3.3 Block user comment: N New Comment: What you're suggesting is less "type hinting" and more "strict typing", which goes against what PHP has been doing for years. Consider using Java instead. See also the PHP wiki (specifically http://wiki.php.net/rfc/typechecking) and previous feature requests/bug reports. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2010-10-18 11:26:25] justinmitchell at iinet dot net dot au Description: ------------ I know there's been a lot of discussion about type hinting for years now. It's prevalent in most OOP languages and as PHP makes the move towards being an OOP scripting language, it would make sense to introduce certain language features. Unless there is a technical constraint (quite possible), would it be possible to introduce type hinting on variables? I make the argument because it would be encourage data validation based on the variable type rather than having to create functions to check if the input matches the variable type. It would vastly improve current and future frameworks, reduce code and improve error handling (assuming the programmer implements). Cast exceptions would need to be implemented as well, eg. String could not be cast to int, int cannot be set a string value etc. It can also in part replace the is_int, is_numeric, is_bool etc. functions; functions which wouldn't be needed if there was variable type hinting. Test script: --------------- <?php $a = 0; int $b = 0; changeVar(&$var) { try { $var = 'abc123'; } catch (Exception $ex) { echo 'could not change variable value or something'; } } Expected result: ---------------- There will be a compile time error because variable type hinting isn't supported. If it were to be implemented you would expect something along the lines of: changeVar($a); changeVar($b); // prints exception message echo $a; // abc123 echo $b; // 0 Actual result: -------------- Throws a compile time error, isn't supported by php ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=53095&edit=1
