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To: =?Windows-1252?Q?C=F4me_Chilliet?= <come@opensides.be>,
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Thread-Topic: [PHP-DEV] Re: [RFC] Numeric Literal Separator
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Date: Wed, 29 May 2019 16:49:28 +0000
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Re: [RFC] Numeric Literal Separator
From: theodorejb@outlook.com (Theodore Brown)

On Wed, May 29, 2019 at 9:03 AM C=F4me Chilliet <come@opensides.be> wrote:=
=0A=
=0A=
> > My understanding from the RFC is that that the grouping is not=0A=
> > relevant, the `_` is stripped regardless.=0A=
> >=0A=
> > Am I wrong?=0A=
>=0A=
> No you=92re not, the RFC allows grouping as the coder wants.=0A=
>=0A=
> Which is why I think it may cause problems because the way the=0A=
> coder wants to group digits and the way easier for me to read is=0A=
> not always the same.=0A=
>=0A=
> As Christoph M. Becker states there are already problems like this=0A=
> with choice of names for variables and code style and such, but=0A=
> until now numbers were a safe place that always looks the same.=0A=
=0A=
Numbers don't always look the same, though. They can already be=0A=
written using hexadecimal, octal, decimal, binary, or exponential=0A=
notation.=0A=
=0A=
Furthermore, as a workaround for the lack of numeric literal=0A=
separators, some programmers end up writing numbers as complex=0A=
expressions like `1 * 10**5 + 3 * 10**4` which can actually=0A=
make them more difficult to read.=0A=
=0A=
> If people want to see big numbers broke up in groups of 3 I would=0A=
> expect their IDE to do this on numbers for them.=0A=
=0A=
It isn't always desirable to group big numbers the same way, though.=0A=
For example, a programmer may want to write `13500` as `135_00` or=0A=
`13_500` depending on whether or not it represents a financial=0A=
quantity stored as cents.=0A=
=0A=
> But I do get the point of the RFC for hexa and bit masks.=0A=
=0A=
Yes, this is another case where it can be useful to group by a=0A=
varying number of digits depending on how a value is being used=0A=
(e.g. nibbles, bytes, or words).=0A=
=0A=
So while it's conceivable that someone could use numeric literal=0A=
separators to write a number in a less readable way, does this=0A=
mean that the many good PHP developers shouldn't have the option=0A=
to use this feature to improve readability?=0A=
=0A=
Sincerely,=0A=
Theodore=