Posted by Jeremy on 09/28/07 21:30

macca wrote:
>
>
>> Incorrect translation: You should never use short tags, and you should
>> go around telling everyone else not to use them.
>
>
> My first first explanation was not a translation of my second post.
>
> My first post gave you a different (all be it correct) reason not to
> use short tags whilst, since you were still arguing the point, I gave
> you another reason, straight from the php.ini file comments.
>
> And yes...You SHOULD never use short tags (just because you can, for
> backwards compatability reasons does not mean you should. IT IS BAD
> PRACTICE)

I welcome the discussion, but your argument here is based on the flawed
assumption that short tags are deprecated. They are not. They do not
exist for backward compatibility reasons. They are a feature of the PHP
parser, and they are not on the verge of being removed as everyone seems
to be assuming.

Additionally, as I explained in a reply to someone else, putting
unescaped XML declarations makes your code far less portable than using
short tags. Therefore, there is no compelling reason to disable short
tags on a server, because portable code will not contain anything that
would be broken by enabling it. Therefore, there is no compelling
reason not to use short tags. The "anti-shorttags movement" is based on
logical fallacies.

I'm not arguing that you should use short tags. Do whatever you please.
Your statement below is what bothers me:

> And yes...You SHOULD go around telling everyone else not to use them
> also.

Feel free to voice your opinion about short tags, and why you feel that
way about them. But to suggest that it's *fact* that they aren't to be
used, or are a deprecated "mistake" feature akin to register_globals, is
misleading at best.

> When you are proven wrong,

I haven't been. You making a flawed argument is a far cry from "proving
me wrong."

> swallow your pride and change your ways - otherwise you'll be a shite
> coder forever.

Thanks for implying that I'm a "shite coder," but everyone I have ever
worked with would disagree with you on that point. How I output values
in a PHP template has as little bearing on my coding skill as whether I
put opening braces on the same line or the next line (I do the latter,
because to me it's easier to read).

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