Newsgroups: php.internals
Path: news.php.net
Xref: news.php.net php.internals:126000
To: internals <internals@lists.php.net>
Subject: [PHP-DEV] Deprecate alternate switch case syntax?
Thread-Topic: Deprecate alternate switch case syntax?
Thread-Index: AQHbO1pEeyVsqr6An0WGHKbcbcToiA==
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2024 14:45:24 +0000
Message-ID:
 <PH7PR16MB5781B1CEDD5B86B51C7CD088DE212@PH7PR16MB5781.namprd16.prod.outlook.com>
Accept-Language: en-US
Content-Language: en-US
msip_labels:
x-ms-exchange-messagesentrepresentingtype: 1
x-ms-publictraffictype: Email
x-ms-traffictypediagnostic: PH7PR16MB5781:EE_|MW3PR16MB3673:EE_
x-ms-office365-filtering-correlation-id: b1469826-44c1-4e5f-d553-08dd0971f7a6
x-microsoft-antispam:
 BCL:0;ARA:14566002|19110799003|15030799003|461199028|8060799006|15080799006|7092599003|8062599003|3412199025|440099028|4302099013|10035399004|102099032|1602099012;
x-microsoft-antispam-message-info:
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?9UX2Zntw9pnY/5NYLK4NrlKhZHOICWH5Ov3yT5yTn9VW2ZpjpoH8ganqR/?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?/EH4RK4D5HWieAJFKC0AOtP3DAMk/EXvW7wjC78V9znuWwMqyZas5xDrJR?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?mAR1lEjT6UoR2zSUoQaS90S4NYD3/jXT3xC+tfxZLmIcnm+tr5Dcp0yTbx?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?RDKll0tyrSTXWHoPv8JNpmDkk7daAwt2M2ffyUPcWM9K/a9lDiwamBj8oc?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?0uZ5LOjThevpNXk87og7G9i1ZK6SG/TG9hYD5BCvJZuzGVznSV615jE10N?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?YIHMifwTfd1AMPYC2C0O6yy1wki2zclEIsrDpcq7I/4vvi3GFGjX5B65jC?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?VTMR98EALbsBAOX8eXxyr5ikYT3ezkTjex7wO9riAAqBm8BPtvGLzXrfuW?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?x5PrVYs8dxcVbwMY6btyBqDnXrShduOdtS2jEfqn51uvUbH3Ej7NIxUvTc?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?bI3LBEQCPCGiLKkI4eDmvhmDpt7mYjH9RTBWbf+H6tOe0rD0f9HdbOfirV?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?tiVHs7ipUUrT28nYs0qQGsMZnFPm//8peo2wAe22+DtDNFsGEtpzkSH2nl?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?yeMlD0R38C8K7KNDhHcTOyZhY1725Fcn6DMo0umpdOzgEDxNShlH6enSz9?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?zx3k4J/Vylgdm/2eav7m+o12GgLZPLtZjuM6ftpTj614TlAbu/fXWIRecs?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?S6AH3PCskMm+SOnutkPpGooKeZtmeb5lsR/BXIS0NWw/MnfML9Eqnww5RW?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?oWkUMJFl1oFNbxVaD1tJXeyNiNWcHZKHpiPRpvpByCmxGyJjHoecSQ41Ak?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?P8sisjt+0inlxBf/odBh8Qb9Dz/rAkwqAU3OjYW4X5HAiXpFl8AGPKS5EP?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?KzB3tlLmuSOUQf5zQKTsv6u6mbsp3/GBpOTnbJ36xUxMyiUhox2rwOZZBX?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?2PcS1JuiCSpXQBE8W+X2mWtNSRoOASyAxunSvHbthZXDr//CWnr7DqaqS3?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?WQwPPo4dFYhqZPBTk2iI2N/yYYXyK3Zj89hv64XbTGt1s6LESzFQLdEhaI?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?gPGvVrSez7mjund9WWnNK+JMXmCM5mduBnyh8w7oW5D7ygzugxiyCmF5Ii?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?v8El858njt94bIfaWiPM4qsTyDJl0sTt7WvjCK3YKn8I0H98tz0Xej5dbB?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?SOqWE6UV1vJWqt3zWYPLJbQh0OCKs+uIGoPRvakYG3E6yDvDPkLohpxW?=
x-ms-exchange-antispam-messagedata-chunkcount: 1
x-ms-exchange-antispam-messagedata-0:
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?Dx7gXdzbYztW2CZXLmdyrohwRyRrp2ruD5upq7/B0dTNDOIe6XHDjB24BR?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?FWrcLp/EyI58L+cfdJvzQ51yjy0egd9N2vEmhcOo9/4WGM17DwZgQM0I86?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?uH+msLYNrkFCEojDbua5w/EO8puhz1o9w9kI9D3pSZvnkzMFWmaToYhye6?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?Pf5xz/4bms+APCfY+b6za1T+qNaNzRNMm8VoM6cdjNxwzDpQhzj46bXAjy?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?lnxgvseoV8k325NTOBomytUbdW1DrVaF3PmIlgDeDu9OapfSYPtLTrsbm0?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?JyMmO1JJV3RaEGNJIB2o+RvtDIsXOrJAG80HO7qHrfuP9Jr1wk9AGJ/CYn?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?j4LcDz5cbYLHO5SwqMRwaI/cjGuDIvk+EOte10OXPUnfJJmWgmUkcmgDFT?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?QDRj50L/blmfNTJnh0G1VANWJJM9HqLF9Yijc+2w/i2IHfkBY0tDfl6PNO?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?w3FhrGmkH+tv5lWrq3vkSNoygRGfdEQdfVqHaeTzVPErvcJ04E04wkxzKg?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?M4M11AfavMCQ/7+aZDU6LX5y1s9uybAsoTmbVIDD/bjzK06HQETU5GO2p1?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?pX2EoLmBKmywjuKO6as9G9xyo/64Ljs9oFC8DPSzklAH0dpc7r59NxZNmg?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?zhPVbT/SiHafnGxAj7raV9FXmc7bQWJ7AoHYIr4+qVMf9gOVlgALhHUnKD?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?9nUbA0ATw6HhNXcSsj3bMoi+9nzZY+2+X6sPvytmWLqJ3RtjH8RI0ccEF3?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?+EM/HlIMJwEpRzKRo4T63Yi+xzb/HIO8sk7XdZMLtCe8ZBppVW4zQB1UPo?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?Ho5vmMhLb7qNL6u+rzmdl5J6xllpVbk0Z8I9g2DZfDz08SxK1aL/PV1V6T?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?ygJ8s4ROERT/i2QDo5iSx6+66BI3SLO2k32UXkj2s2xPOv0DQBIEKWvBEw?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?TfoHqiBMKY9M+09D1+HQo3Vdy7Ppjc5gniNnpCDaXtmmQtqevEVgFuXxCM?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?kXmYoZWqftUx3i3vfvxHtqjUJAfgEb4wF/VCThP6OHW7eGtCZHjKMkzPdx?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?Q1yy6ZBQ0z/tnpmdEW5/0d80wXnONwTDkVkpba2SMM95gzfuXCrE5boOFy?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?TWf1DEUXb/qWrqGqP3/BAwuGBu7UjFEBfowSt+gyA7nhcCzBtrqNTeROIY?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?HM1hHQIzyIm2wYRpQqXyK4BqMCzfixgxoUqhXzCg7rWRLKGuMG05/MnuW/?=
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?PsuLottoNo8q7b8Wt0Dl76ACubVtSoh7BBho+MnZg=3D?=
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Precedence: bulk
list-help: <mailto:internals+help@lists.php.net
list-unsubscribe: <mailto:internals+unsubscribe@lists.php.net>
list-post: <mailto:internals@lists.php.net>
List-Id: internals.lists.php.net
x-ms-reactions: disallow
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-OriginatorOrg: outlook.com
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-AuthAs: Internal
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-AuthSource: PH7PR16MB5781.namprd16.prod.outlook.com
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-RMS-PersistedConsumerOrg: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-Network-Message-Id: b1469826-44c1-4e5f-d553-08dd0971f7a6
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-rms-persistedconsumerorg: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-originalarrivaltime: 20 Nov 2024 14:45:24.6760
 (UTC)
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-fromentityheader: Hosted
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-id: 84df9e7f-e9f6-40af-b435-aaaaaaaaaaaa
X-MS-Exchange-Transport-CrossTenantHeadersStamped: MW3PR16MB3673
From: theodorejb@outlook.com (Theodore Brown)

Hello Internals,=0A=
=0A=
I recently found out (after 15 years of being a PHP developer) that PHP all=
ows using a semicolon rather than a colon after case statements. [1] I.e.:=
=0A=
=0A=
    switch ($value) {=0A=
        case 'foo';=0A=
        case 'bar':=0A=
		case 'baz';=0A=
            echo 'foo, bar, or baz';=0A=
            break;=0A=
        default;=0A=
            echo 'Other';=0A=
    }=0A=
=0A=
Apparently this syntax has been allowed since at least the PHP 4 days, but =
very few developers know about it.=0A=
=0A=
I ran a script on the top 1000 Composer packages to gauge usage, and out of=
 35,777 total case statements, only 15 in two packages used the alternate s=
yntax. All were accidental typos (randomly mixed in with statements using t=
he normal syntax), and I opened pull requests to fix both (the first has al=
ready been merged):=0A=
=0A=
- https://github.com/reactphp/promise/pull/264=0A=
- https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/3486526=0A=
=0A=
Would it be worthwhile for me to write an RFC to propose deprecating the al=
ternate switch case syntax in PHP 8.5?=0A=
=0A=
The main reason for deprecation/removal it is that it causes confusion. A d=
eveloper may think the alternate syntax behaves differently in some way fro=
m a regular case statement (e.g. preventing fallthrough or something), when=
 it actually does not.=0A=
=0A=
Best regards,=0A=
Theodore=0A=
=0A=
Note: The normal case syntax has been part of the PSR-2 coding style since =
2012, and PHP-CS-Fixer automatically fixes usages of the non-standard synta=
x when using the @PSR2 or newer @PER-CS rulesets.=0A=
=0A=
[1]: https://github.com/php/php-src/issues/15258=