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Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2021 09:08:15 +0000
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] [RFC] Allow object keys in arrays
From: rowan.collins@gmail.com (Rowan Tommins)

On 12/01/2021 16:51, Marco Pivetta wrote:
> Whether the problem can be mitigated is what should be discussed, but the
> problem is objectively there.


Hi all,

Like others, I like the *idea* of object keys, but worry about its 
practical impact.

A few scatter-gun thoughts on possible approaches, I don't think any of 
them is the solution, but maybe they'll spark someone else to further ideas:


- Only allow objects that are "stringable" (i.e. implement __toString), 
but don't actually call it. This retains the safety of code using 
"(string)$key", but not code passing to a constraint of "string|int". 
(It also means enums will all have to have an __toString, which might be 
a price worth paying.)

- Create a new type, which is like an array but allows object keys, with 
its own literal syntax. e.g.

$hash = hash['foo' => 42, $someObject => 69];
assert(is_array($hash) === false);
assert(is_iterable($hash) === true);

- Invent a syntax for initialising a custom collection object from a 
literal with arbitrary keys and values, but not actually initialise it 
as an array. Even without generics, this would make it much more 
attractive to replace more arrays with specific collection types.


Regards,

-- 
Rowan Tommins
[IMSoP]