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To: Benjamin Eberlei <kontakt@beberlei.de>, PHP Internals
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Thread-Topic: [PHP-DEV] [VOTE] Attributes v2 RFC Vote is open
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Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2020 13:13:32 +0000
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] [VOTE] Attributes v2 RFC Vote is open
From: theodorejb@outlook.com (Theodore Brown)

On Mon, Apr 20, 2020 at 4:18 AM Benjamin Eberlei <kontakt@beberlei.de> wrot=
e:=0A=
=0A=
> I have opened the vote on the Attributes v2 RFC. The voting will be=0A=
> open until two weeks from now, May 4th 2020, noon UTC.=0A=
>=0A=
> RFC: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/attributes_v2=0A=
=0A=
It's unfortunate that the RFC doesn't more fully enumerate the=0A=
advantages/disadvantages of the proposed syntax options.=0A=
=0A=
It only points out that the T_ATTRIBUTE `@:` syntax is shorter and=0A=
more familiar, but claims that it has the downside of not permitting=0A=
whitespace in attribute names (it's not clear this is really an=0A=
advantage - just an opportunity for arguments about code style).=0A=
=0A=
But if you look at the pull request for the `@:` syntax [1], there is=0A=
a much more complete comparison. For example, the `<<>>` syntax is more=0A=
verbose, unfamiliar to most people, and even Hack seems to be moving=0A=
away from it. Furthermore, because it reuses existing tokens with a=0A=
different meaning, it results in expressions that can be very difficult=0A=
to read. For example:=0A=
=0A=
```php=0A=
const Baz =3D 2;=0A=
=0A=
<<FooAttribute(2 * 3 + 3)>><<Bar(4 + 5 * 2)>>=0A=
<<BarAttribute(2 * (3 + 3)>>Baz, (4 + 5) * 2)>>=0A=
function foo() {}=0A=
```=0A=
=0A=
If PHP gets generics in the future (hopefully it does), the syntax will=0A=
likely get even more confusing (if not a lot of PHP developers use shift=0A=
tokens, certainly a lot more will use generics).=0A=
=0A=
The `@:` syntax makes it much more obvious where separate attributes=0A=
are being used vs. constant expressions containing a shift token:=0A=
=0A=
@:FooAttribute(2 * 3 + 3)=0A=
@:Bar(4 + 5 * 2)=0A=
@:BarAttribute(2 * (3 + 3)>>Baz, (4 + 5) * 2)=0A=
function foo() {}=0A=
```=0A=
=0A=
In addition, the `@:` syntax is less verbose, and much closer to the=0A=
attribute syntax developers are familiar with using in PHPDoc comments,=0A=
as well as the syntax with precedence in other languages such as Java=0A=
and Python.=0A=
=0A=
The syntax choice is very important, the language will be stuck with=0A=
it for a very long time!=0A=
=0A=
Best regards,=0A=
Theodore=0A=
=0A=
[1]: https://github.com/kooldev/php-src/pull/2=0A=