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Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2024 14:27:34 -0500
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Zephir, and other tangents
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From: larry@garfieldtech.com ("Larry Garfield")

On Fri, Sep 20, 2024, at 12:28 PM, Dennis Snell wrote:

> I=E2=80=99m not sure why you=E2=80=99re singling out Automattic, since=
 nobody from=20
> Automattic started this thread or requested other people provide=20
> unfunded volunteer work, or why you=E2=80=99re expecting a single corp=
orate=20
> entity to fully fund long-term planned features in the language. Is=20
> that how PHP normally grows? I=E2=80=99m not familiar with the process.
>
> My goal in sharing here is to help better represent my own perspective=20
> of WordPress=E2=80=99 needs based on what I=E2=80=99ve seen. It=E2=80=99=
s long been on my list=20
> to propose a WASM RFC, but because I personally haven=E2=80=99t had th=
e=20
> priority available to get an implementation working I haven=E2=80=99t =
done so.=20
> It=E2=80=99s my impression from the documentation that the purpose of =
these=20
> email threads w.r.t. RFCs is to gather interest and input before any=20
> RFC would be put together, to hold these discussions before anyone=20
> commits any major time to it.

FWIW, I feel that an embedded Wasm bridge, with a good API, would be an =
excellent addition and way more useful than the crappy experience of FFI.

Logistical question, for those with more stdlib expertise: Since we have=
 other extensions in php-src that only work if you install some other li=
brary as well (eg, curl), which distros pretty much take care of for us,=
 would a small in-php-src extension that is just a thin wrapper for Wasm=
time or similar be viable?  Not embedding Wasmtime into the php-src code=
, just the extension, and it's up to the user/distro to install both so =
that they work. =20

(Note: I'm not asking if you think it's a good idea, just if it's physic=
ally possible/worth discussing.)

--Larry Garfield