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Posted by Chung Leong on 11/03/06 05:38
Michael Fesser wrote:
> >That's the problem with PHP. The developers don't seem to know what
> >makes the language successful. Development is so focused on appeasing
> >detractors that they're willing to sacrifice backward compatibility.
>
> I partly agree, but there are some things that simply _must_ be changed,
> regardless of backward compatibility. There were some real errors made
> in the beginning of PHP (register_globals, just to name one). Fixing
> them can't be done without breaking compatibility. But I consider that a
> good thing. Properly written scripts still work, others need a rewrite.
>
> Micha
There are ways you can implement changes without breaking earlier code.
For example, you can supercede register_globals with an "import"
keyword, like this:
<?php
import get $pid, $sort = 0;
If the keyword is present, then no auto registration occurs and only
those listed are available. That confines the change to just new code.
Another way you can handle changes is to toggle between new and old
behavior depending on file extension.
Basically if there is a will, there is a way. Unfortunately the PHP
folks seems to believe that if code changes required are small, then
they're okay. That's crappy assumption to make. Not all codebases are
actively managed. Even small changes would be a major effort if someone
has to sit down and figure out what some existing code does. Moreover,
when you have code that's widely used, the logistics of distributing
the change are formidable.
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