On Wed, Jun 26, 2024, at 19:57, Richard Miles wrote:
> “Array-application will also be pushed to future-scope”
>
>
> Dang, this is what I was looking forward to the most. Helping set some precedent on this issue,
> and this is a solid start. I’ve been thinking about what it would look like for strictly typed
> arrays in PHP for a while now. I think a custom implantation like SqlObjectStorage or SplFixedArray
> could help performance since we now have a fixed list and no need for a hash table, and it may solve
> some complexity in implementation. This is slightly off-topic, but if anyone is interested in
> working on a typed arrays initiative, please contact me directly.
Just a good ole' circular buffer would be nice for so many things (fiber microwork queues, etc)
:)
That being said, you can abuse arrays to get better (or at least the same) performance of SPL for
certain data structures (e.g., priority queues/heaps: https://withinboredom.info/2022/09/04/algorithms-in-php-priority-queues-and-heaps/
-- the listing isn't complete or fully working, FWIW).. Those little arrays have much power,
and I love them for some tasks.
>
> That said, I agree with Robert Landers, who wrote the following:
>
> There's no need to use ? to check for existence on a key, so this:
>
> $arr is ['a' => string, ?'b' => string, ...];
>
> should be this:
>
> $arr is ['a' => string, 'b' => ?string, …];
>
> ______
>
> Chuck Adams cleared that up with:
> The first means b is an optional key, but if it’s there, can only be a string. The second
> says b is a required key, but it may be a string or null. If there were a binding involved, that
> determines the type of the binding in incompatible ways.
> ______
>
> I think there is a need to ensure a key does not exist even if we’re not happy about this
> syntax, but if not having $arr is ['a' => string, 'b' => ?string,
> …] would still make me very happy.
The only time I can't think of this being important (whether or not a key exists) is during
serialization/deserialization, where you may want to leave something its default value. In that
case, you likely won't know what the keys are supposed to be in the first place (thus unable to
use them in something like "is" or "as"). In the case that you did, this would
be perfectly reasonable:
$keys = array_keys($arr) is [ "a", ?"b", ?"c"];
It's still weird-looking, but it tells you that the keys may or may not exist, and it is
consistent with itself. However, what if the array is in a different order or missing keys (e.g.,
["c", "a"])? You can see how this gets complicated pretty quickly. If I am
getting hung up on $arr['non-existent-key'] technically being null, you can imagine how
someone else -- maybe even me if I thought about it long enough -- would argue that ["a",
?"b", ?"c"] may or may not match ["a", "c"] as the arguments
for either way are pretty strong and the usecases for either way being just as valuable. It's a
good call to punt it for deeper discussion later.
>
> Best,
>
> Richard Miles
Please remember to bottom-post ;)
— Rob