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Thread-Topic: Proposal: Render floats differently from integers in print_r()
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Date: Sun, 17 Jan 2021 15:57:44 +0000
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Subject: Proposal: Render floats differently from integers in print_r()
From: tysonandre775@hotmail.com (tyson andre)

Hi internals,=0A=
=0A=
Currently, print_r() will print ints and floats in exactly the same way, de=
spite the fact that they are different types=0A=
and floats may cause a TypeError (or be treated differently from integers, =
e.g. avro encoding) when used where an integer is expected.=0A=
This is not documented in https://www.php.net/print_r=0A=
=0A=
I've created https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/6611 , which proposes to h=
ave print_r() dump floats such as 1.0 as 1.0, like var_export currently doe=
s.=0A=
=0A=
```=0A=
php > print_r(1.0);  // old behavior, proposed behavior is 1.0=0A=
1=0A=
php > print_r(1);=0A=
1=0A=
php > var_export(1.0);=0A=
1.0=0A=
php > var_export(1);=0A=
1=0A=
```=0A=
=0A=
Benefits:=0A=
- print_r() previously make it look as if a value was an int when it really=
 was a=0A=
  float. When using print_r() to inspect the value of an array, TypeErrors =
or differences in behavior can be unintuitive=0A=
  if you think the value is really an integer when it's actually a float.=
=0A=
=0A=
  This change should save time debugging in the long run for users unfamili=
ar with this behavior.=0A=
  (https://www.php.net/print_r has no mention of the behavior seen for floa=
ts in the summary or user-submitted comments)=0A=
- print_r() output now shows a difference between 0.0 and 0,=0A=
  which is useful for generating diffs between expected and actual values i=
n test failures, etc.=0A=
=0A=
Cons:=0A=
- Existing tests of php, pecl extensions, and composer libraries need to be=
 changed if they involve the raw output of=0A=
  print_r and dumping float values.=0A=
  If this is merged, tests would need to normalize print_r output or use fo=
rmat string expectations=0A=
  to pass in both 8.0 and 8.1 (or switch to var_dump(), var_export(), etc.)=
=0A=
=0A=
Thanks,=0A=
- Tyson=0A=