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Date: Mon, 5 May 2025 21:08:06 +0300
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Modules, again.
To: Michael Morris <tendoaki@gmail.com>
Cc: PHP internals <internals@lists.php.net>
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From: edmond.ht@gmail.com (Edmond Dantes)

Hello, Michael.

Thank you very much for your work. It's very interesting.

Let me look at this idea from an architectural perspective.

Did I understand correctly from the text that:

* Modules control which entities are public and which are not?
* During import, we specify which entities we want to bind to which namespa=
ce?
* Could this solution help with separating Internal and Public classes?

In other words, the information about what is public and what is
private is part of the module.
And the information about how the module is integrated into the
project lies outside the module.

Could this task be reduced to using `use as`?

For example:
```php
use \MyClass as MyClass2;
```

This situation is very similar to creating aliases for namespaces,
but the difference is that the alias is created not for the code being
used, but for the code being loaded.

Technically, this is quite possible to implement:

1. We specify that files at a certain path will be loaded into a
different namespace.
2. During loading, all namespaces are inserted into the symbol table
with the desired alias, as if a person had manually renamed all the
modules.

But there is one problem here that cannot be solved at all.

`PHP` lacks an abstraction over symbols. It doesn=E2=80=99t have a dedicate=
d
`Class` or `Namespace` type =E2=80=94 strings are used in code for that
purpose.
And that means any code that tries to load a class using a string
constant will break.

To solve this, `PHP` would need to introduce a new data type. That=E2=80=99=
s
not a problem, but it does require an `RFC`.
In addition, a new `PSR` for packages and autoloading would be needed.

You have a great idea, but I think it requires some groundwork in
these areas first.

P.S.
I consider WordPress the best example of what rapid programming can
look like =E2=80=94 and where it can lead. And I don=E2=80=99t hate it. :)

Best Regards, Ed