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Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2019 00:35:17 -0700
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Cc: =?utf-8?Q?Micha=C5=82_Brzuchalski?= <michal.brzuchalski@gmail.com>,
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To: Claude Pache <claude.pache@gmail.com>
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] [RFC] Object Initializer
From: mike@newclarity.net (Mike Schinkel)

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> That said, I generally use arrays rather than DTO objects

I too have often used arrays. But then I have always been rigorous to =
ensure that variables and array elements are initialized before use, and =
fortunately I do not have a lot of typos in code I write.

However I recently took on a large PHP app to refactor where the =
previous developers had used arrays profusely with very little =
pre-initialization.  So I started to add in all initialization and =
checking to be certain variables had been initialized and realized it =
was an overwhelming task.=20

I changed course and am now replacing all all arrays that are emulating =
a struct (vs a collection) to instances of declared classes and it has =
made a major improvement in my ability to refactor without bloating the =
code to 2-3x the original size. I has also allowed me to consolidate =
lots of repeated code in one place in  methods and constructors.

Given that experience and knowing that using "args" for optional =
parameters means my function signatures are much less likely to change, =
it would be super helpful if I could do so with type-checked object =
initializers instead of array literals.

-Mike=

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