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Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2020 14:24:48 +0000
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Is there any interest for object constructor shorthand
 *just forstdClass*
From: rowan.collins@gmail.com (Rowan Tommins)

On 26/10/2020 09:02, Andreas Bittner wrote:
> With regards to the JSON looking different when casting to object:
>
> ```
> json_encode([1,2,3]); // result: [1,2,3]
> json_encode((object)[1,2,3]); // result: {"0":1,"1":2,"2":3}
>
> json_encode([]); // result: []
> json_encode((object)[]); // result: {} 


Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. For cases as trivial as that, we have 
JSON_FORCE_OBJECT, but that's no use for creating structures like [{}, {}]


> \stdClass is currently needed and widely used as no other structure 
> exists that offers dynamic property names while still being forcefully 
> JSON encoded as a JSON object.
> We could replace this with another class. Maybe a real map 
> implementation. But without the replacement being present \stdClass 
> should be removed.


Just to be clear, *any* object (except for a few with magic behaviour) 
can have dynamic property names added. As far as I know, defining "class 
stdClass {}" would be completely equivalent to what stdClass currently 
does (i.e. nothing).

The only thing that makes stdClass at all special is the built-in 
functionality that returns it, notably the "object cast" short-hand for 
creating an instance and dynamically setting properties on it. The 
*functionality* (if not necessarily the *performance*) of that 
short-hand can definitely be replicated with any normal or anonymous 
class: https://3v4l.org/fGRBj



> Do we already have a comprehensive list of features and use cases for 
> \stdClass? If not I would offer to compile one to the best of my 
> knowledge for a separate discussion on how to replace \stdClass if 
> possible and needed.


I guess you could search the manual for built-in functions and operators 
that return stdClass instances. I doubt there are any that explicitly 
require them as input.

For userland code, I'm not aware of any scenario where "new stdClass" 
could not be replaced by "new class {}", or why a polyfill would be any 
more than "if ( ! class_exists('stdClass') ) { class stdClass{} )".


Regards,

-- 
Rowan Tommins (né Collins)
[IMSoP]