Posted by Jason Barnett on 01/31/05 18:50

Vivian Steller wrote:
....
>
> Thanks for metioning this issue! This is another point where I think OO is
> done the half way in PHP:
>
> Why do we need some implicit type check, like
> public method(Type $type)
> if we then loose the optional parameter advantage?

I don't know *the* answer. So far as I can tell this is one of those
"that's just the way it is" type of issue.

>
> Either some polymorphism mechanism should be implemented, or something like
> public method(Type $type = new MyType())
> should be able being passed through the interpreter..
>
> also the primitive datatypes should be (exceptionally) used here:
> public method(string $argument)

You're not the first to ask for this. In fact, I think this might have
even made it into the TODO list... but don't count on it any time soon.

>
> Otherwise (IMHO) the typecheck mechanism is useless.

Not useless, but yes it is handicapped. You have to expect an object in
order to tell the interpreter which type of object to expect.

>
>
>>Interestingly, I found that Perl has
>>the possibility of function overloading (also a language that's
>>dynamically typed)
>>(http://www.math.tu-berlin.de/polymake/perl/overload.html) It also has -
>>like Python - operator overloading. But is there any enthusiasm for that
>>in the PHP community, either? Nah...
>
> regrettably... :(
>
>
>>>Are there any thoughts about that in future releases?

Possibly an implementation for primitive type checking in the future...
but don't hold out on it.

>>>What do other developers think about this issue?

Not a big deal. I generally *like* having the flexibility. And if I
really want / need to check I use the is_* functions.

>>>How do organize multiple used classnames?
>>
>>The common answer is: "Use a prefix"...
>
> but i really dislike using cryptic and long prefixes to ensure uniqueness...
> dots in the classname (ok, doing it like java) would be so nice, gr**

No new advice here. Personally I find classnames like XML_XSLT_Wrapper
to be short enough, yet they provide enough of a "namespace" for me to
not worry about collisions for my Wrapper class and are descriptive when
I'm just viewing the source code.

>
>
>>Regards,
>>
>>Terje
>
>
> vivian


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