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Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2019 15:06:27 -0700
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To: Chase Peeler <chasepeeler@gmail.com>
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Changing fundamental language behaviors
From: mike@newclarity.net (Mike Schinkel)

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> It's not a matter of won't upgrade, but that they can't upgrade. If =
Wordpress decides to take their time supporting PHP 8, wordpress users =
won't have any option but to wait on upgrading.

To be clear, WordPress core upgrading to support PHP won't be a big =
issue.  And WordPress core code has actually improved significantly in =
recent years.

Upgrading the ~68,000 open source plugins available on wordpress.org =
<http://wordpress.org/>, thousands of commercial plugins, and and an =
untold number of custom-developed bespoke plugins and custom themes is =
where the concern lies.=20

-Mike

> On Sep 12, 2019, at 11:14 AM, Chase Peeler <chasepeeler@gmail.com> =
wrote:
>=20
>=20
>=20
> On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 2:10 PM Lynn <kjarli@gmail.com =
<mailto:kjarli@gmail.com>> wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 7:59 PM Mike Schinkel <mike@newclarity.net =
<mailto:mike@newclarity.net>> wrote:
>=20
> >
> >
> > Just a few weeks ago I was refactoring some particularly horrible =
code
> > developed by previously employed developers =E2=80=94 a code based =
that has a 1400
> > line function and many other functions 100s of lines long, and I =
added some
> > initialization for variable and array elements prior to their use.
> >
> > Unfortunately my changes broke the code because the original =
developer
> > using isset($var) as branching criteria.  After finding this bug, I
> > realized that this code base uses that technique frequently.  I am =
know
> > from lots of experience that this is a common technical among =
WordPress
> > plugins.
> >
> >
> The bug is not that you initialized the variable, it's that you =
initialized
> it with a different value: https://3v4l.org/8mB8B =
<https://3v4l.org/8mB8B>
> ```
> var_dump(isset($a));
> $a =3D null;
> var_dump(isset($a));
>=20
> // gives
> bool(false)
> bool(false)
> ```
>=20
> Whenever one of these errors will occur, you can initialize either the
> array key or variable with null and it will work again without =
changing
> behavior. If anything, Wordpress shouldn't be an argument to not =
improve
> PHP, though I think it's important to consider the impact of a change,
> including for the Wordpress community. However, I think most people =
agree
> that the quality of Wordpress code and Plugins is highly debatable. I =
don't
> like the idea of not being able to progress because Wordpress users =
won't
> upgrade PHP.
>=20
> It's not a matter of won't upgrade, but that they can't upgrade. If =
Wordpress decides to take their time supporting PHP 8, wordpress users =
won't have any option but to wait on upgrading.
> =20
> Regards,
> Lynn van der Berg
>=20
>=20
> --=20
> Chase Peeler
> chasepeeler@gmail.com <mailto:chasepeeler@gmail.com>

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