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To: Derick Rethans <derick@php.net>, PHP Developers Mailing List
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Thread-Topic: [PHP-DEV] [RFC] Shorter Attribute Syntax Change RFC 0.2
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Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2020 16:36:49 +0000
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] [RFC] Shorter Attribute Syntax Change RFC 0.2
From: theodorejb@outlook.com (Theodore Brown)

On Tue, Aug 4, 2020 at 8:45 AM Derick Rethans <derick@php.net> wrote:=0A=
=0A=
> Out of Banjamin's suggestion[1], I've updated the Shorter Attribute=0A=
> Syntax Change RFC to reflect that process:=0A=
> =0A=
> https://wiki.php.net/rfc/shorter_attribute_syntax_change=0A=
> =0A=
> Patches and comments welcome.=0A=
=0A=
Hi Derick,=0A=
=0A=
I don't agree with the main argument put forward in this RFC:=0A=
=0A=
> The main concern is that @@ has no ending symbol and it's=0A=
> inconsistent with the language that it would be the only=0A=
> declaration or statement in the whole language that has no ending=0A=
> termination symbol.=0A=
=0A=
Attributes are not a standalone statement or declaration; they are=0A=
metadata *on* a declaration. They cannot stand alone, but always=0A=
modify the following declaration, just as public and static modify=0A=
a method, or a type declaration modifies a parameter or property.=0A=
=0A=
Modifying declarations (e.g. for visibility and type) do not have an=0A=
ending symbol. For example, we don't write something like:=0A=
=0A=
    [public] function foo([int] $bar) {}=0A=
=0A=
With the @@ syntax attributes a treated consistently with type and=0A=
visibility declarations:=0A=
=0A=
    @@Jit=0A=
    public function foo(@@Deprecated int $bar) {}=0A=
=0A=
So there is nothing inconsistent about not having a termination=0A=
symbol - this is in harmony with visibility and type declarations in=0A=
PHP, as well as the attribute syntax used by a majority of C family=0A=
languages. [1]=0A=
=0A=
When it comes to supporting attribute grouping, I actually consider=0A=
this a downside of the #[], @[], and <<>> syntaxes. It complicates=0A=
the internal implementation, and makes it so developers have to=0A=
choose between two different syntaxes when adding more than one=0A=
attribute. In real-world use cases the @@ syntax is just as or even=0A=
more concise without the extra parser/compiler complexity:=0A=
=0A=
    #[Attr1, Attr2] # 15 chars=0A=
=0A=
    @@Attr1 @@Attr2 # 15 chars=0A=
=0A=
    # 4 lines, 53 chars not counting whitespace=0A=
    @[=0A=
        AttrWithParam("foobar"),=0A=
        SomeOtherAttr("fizzbuzz"),=0A=
    ]=0A=
=0A=
    # 2 lines, 52 chars=0A=
    @@AttrWithParam("foobar")=0A=
    @@SomeOtherAttr("fizzbuzz")=0A=
=0A=
I agree that we want the best syntax, not necessarily the best=0A=
**looking** syntax. I still believe that the @@ syntax offers the best=0A=
balance here. It's familiar, concise without additional complexity,=0A=
and doesn't break useful syntax the way @[] and #[] do.=0A=
=0A=
Kind regards,  =0A=
Theodore=0A=
=0A=
[1]: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/shorter_attribute_syntax#comparison_to_other_=
languages=