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Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2025 20:21:22 +0200 (CEST)
To: Gregory Magarshak <greg@qbix.com>, internals@lists.php.net
Message-ID: <1744099889.304344.1753813282179@email.ionos.de>
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Three proposals for PHP 9
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From: mails@thomasbley.de (Thomas Bley)

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=20

> Gregory Magarshak <greg@qbix.com> hat am 29.07.2025 19:46 CEST geschriebe=
n:
> =20
> =20
> I came across this post on Reddit asking what people would like to see in=
 the next PHP: https://www.reddit.com/r/PHP/s/l9r8UJP6Rk
> =20
> There are two major proposals I would make,  both of which aim to greatly=
 improve PHP's competitiveness and ecosystem, while maintaining its spirit =
and what makes it great. And one minor proposal. I wrote them on Reddit, bu=
t then I realized I should actually do something about it. The last time I =
did something was in 2015 writing to the PHP list back then.
> =20
> How do I get rights to create my own RFCs for these? I tried to do it on =
the web, but it says to ask on the mailing list. Here are my bona fides: I'=
ve spent about 20 years with PHP, to be honest, and the last 14 building an=
 open-source community platform / CMS that competes with Facebook, Twitter,=
 etc. and uses very idiomatic PHP. Here are two links in case anyone is int=
erested
> https://github.com/Qbix
> https://www.laweekly.com/restoring-healthy-communities/
> =20
> Anyway without further ado, I would like to present the two proposals:
> =20
> First one: introduce switch_global_context($name)
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> =20
> I really love PHP=E2=80=99s shared-nothing architecture, but when it come=
s to frankenphp, swoole etc. it is very hard to port existing apps to that =
evented runtime. That is mainly because the superglobals and static variabl=
es are =E2=80=94 well =E2=80=94 global. You can have the best of both world=
s.
> =20
> Just add a function to PHP which can do context switching between all glo=
bal scopes, to any named scope. So when you have one evented runtime, it ca=
n quickly switch. This should be easy to do with SHM (shared memory segment=
s) and just pointing to a different page in memory.=20
> =20
> The goal is to allow all =E2=80=9Clegacy=E2=80=9D code (ie all current PH=
P code that runs on php-fpm etc) to be trivially ported to much faster runt=
imes, while remaining =E2=80=9Cshared-nothing=E2=80=9D for all intents and =
purposes (global contexts would be isolated from one another because only o=
ne could be active at a time).
> =20
> Second one: set_encryption_seed($name)
> =20
> You might need to let people register functions to run before a context i=
s saved (sleep) and after it is loaded (wakeup), when there is memory press=
ure, PHP can handle this in a standard way and even encrypt it at rest. You=
 can also do this for session save/open handlers (which you already do).
> =20
> Just have an environment variable or function like set_encryption_seed($s=
eed) at startup of frankenphp or swoole.
> =20
> Third one one: Improve func_get_args to return associative arrays.
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> =20
> I had this suggestion back in 2015 but maybe now it=E2=80=99s outdated. Y=
ou see, functions typically start out having required arguments first, then=
 add on optional arguments later. I thought based on how PHP passes argumen=
ts, it would have been trivial to enhance func_get_args to return an array =
indexed not just by numeric values but also string values!
> =20
> And therefore one could pass arguments like in python: func(2, 5, $foo =
=3D> $bar, $baz =3D> $choo) It also would look exactly like the familiar ar=
ray composition syntax. But this is no mere syntactic sugar. It helps devel=
opers fall into the pit of success by creating backward-compatible interfac=
es and making any function extensible, improving the entire ecosystem.
> =20
> Sincerely,
> Greg Magarshak
> https://76183cf5.streaklinks.com/ChUGGA0vb2UyLmRu_AoCdl6f/http%3A%2F%2Fqb=
ix.com%2Finvest
> =20
> =E1=90=A7
> =E1=90=A7
>=20
=20
> Third one one: Improve func_get_args to return associative arrays.

Thanks for the suggestions. Maybe add a new function func_get_named_args():=
 array<string, mixed>, would be a good extension to the named arguments rfc=
.
=20
Regards
Thomas

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<!doctype html>
<html>
 <head>
  <meta charset=3D"UTF-8">
 </head>
 <body>
  <div>
   &nbsp;
  </div>
  <blockquote type=3D"cite">
   <div>
    Gregory Magarshak &lt;greg@qbix.com&gt; hat am 29.07.2025 19:46 CEST ge=
schrieben:
   </div>
   <div>
    &nbsp;
   </div>
   <div>
    &nbsp;
   </div>
   <div dir=3D"ltr">
    <div dir=3D"ltr">
     <div>
      I came across this post on Reddit asking what people would like to se=
e in the next PHP: <a href=3D"https://www.reddit.com/r/PHP/s/l9r8UJP6Rk" ta=
rget=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopener">https://www.reddit.com/r/PHP/s/l9r8UJP6Rk<=
/a>
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      There are two major proposals I would make,&nbsp; both of which aim t=
o greatly improve PHP's competitiveness and ecosystem, while maintaining it=
s spirit and what makes it great. And one minor proposal. I wrote them on R=
eddit, but then I realized I should actually do something about it. The las=
t time I did something was in 2015 writing to the PHP list back then.
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      How do I get rights to create my own RFCs for these? I tried to do it=
 on the web, but it says to ask on the mailing list. Here are my bona fides=
: I've spent about 20 years with PHP, to be honest, and the last 14 buildin=
g an open-source community platform / CMS that competes with Facebook, Twit=
ter, etc. and uses very idiomatic PHP. Here are two links in case anyone is=
 interested
     </div>
     <div>
      <a href=3D"https://github.com/Qbix" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopener=
">https://github.com/Qbix</a>
     </div>
     <div>
      <a href=3D"https://www.laweekly.com/restoring-healthy-communities/" t=
arget=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopener">https://www.laweekly.com/restoring-health=
y-communities/</a>
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      Anyway without further ado, I would like to present the two proposals=
:
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      First one: introduce switch_global_context($name)
     </div>
     <div>
      =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      I really love PHP=E2=80=99s shared-nothing architecture, but when it =
comes to frankenphp, swoole etc. it is very hard to port existing apps to t=
hat evented runtime. That is mainly because the superglobals and static var=
iables are =E2=80=94 well =E2=80=94 global. You can have the best of both w=
orlds.
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      Just add a function to PHP which can do context switching between all=
 global scopes, to any named scope. So when you have one evented runtime, i=
t can quickly switch. This should be easy to do with SHM (shared memory seg=
ments) and just pointing to a different page in memory.&nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      The goal is to allow all =E2=80=9Clegacy=E2=80=9D code (ie all curren=
t PHP code that runs on php-fpm etc) to be trivially ported to much faster =
runtimes, while remaining =E2=80=9Cshared-nothing=E2=80=9D for all intents =
and purposes (global contexts would be isolated from one another because on=
ly one could be active at a time).
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      Second one: set_encryption_seed($name)
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      You might need to let people register functions to run before a conte=
xt is saved (sleep) and after it is loaded (wakeup), when there is memory p=
ressure, PHP can handle this in a standard way and even encrypt it at rest.=
 You can also do this for session save/open handlers (which you already do)=
.
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      Just have an environment variable or function like set_encryption_see=
d($seed) at startup of frankenphp or swoole.
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      Third one one: Improve func_get_args to return associative arrays.
     </div>
     <div>
      =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      I had this suggestion back in 2015 but maybe now it=E2=80=99s outdate=
d. You see, functions typically start out having required arguments first, =
then add on optional arguments later. I thought based on how PHP passes arg=
uments, it would have been trivial to enhance func_get_args to return an ar=
ray indexed not just by numeric values but also string values!
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      And therefore one could pass arguments like in python: func(2, 5, $fo=
o =3D&gt; $bar, $baz =3D&gt; $choo) It also would look exactly like the fam=
iliar array composition syntax. But this is no mere syntactic sugar. It hel=
ps developers fall into the pit of success by creating backward-compatible =
interfaces and making any function extensible, improving the entire ecosyst=
em.
     </div>
     <div>
      &nbsp;
     </div>
     <div>
      <div class=3D"gmail_signature" dir=3D"ltr" data-smartmail=3D"gmail_si=
gnature">
       <div dir=3D"ltr">
        <div>
         <div dir=3D"ltr">
          <div dir=3D"ltr">
           <div dir=3D"ltr">
            <div>
             Sincerely,
            </div>
            <div>
             Greg Magarshak
             <br><a href=3D"https://76183cf5.streaklinks.com/ChUGGA0vb2UyLm=
Ru_AoCdl6f/http%3A%2F%2Fqbix.com%2Finvest" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopene=
r"><img data-sanitize=3D"blocked-image"></a>
            </div>
            <div>
             &nbsp;
            </div>
           </div>
          </div>
         </div>
        </div>
       </div>
      </div>
     </div><img style=3D"display: flex;" src=3D"cid:e6f392bc77554595bd60cfd=
627de07e7@Open-Xchange" alt=3D"" width=3D"0" height=3D"0">
    </div>
    <div style=3D"max-height: 1px;">
     <img style=3D"width: 0px; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;" alt=3D""=
 data-sanitize=3D"blocked-image"><span style=3D"color: #ffffff; font-size: =
xx-small;">=E1=90=A7</span>
    </div><img class=3D"mailtrack-img" style=3D"display: flex;" alt=3D"" wi=
dth=3D"0" height=3D"0" data-sanitize=3D"blocked-image">
   </div>
   <div style=3D"max-height: 1px;">
    <img style=3D"width: 0px; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;" alt=3D"" =
data-sanitize=3D"blocked-image"><span style=3D"color: #ffffff; font-size: x=
x-small;">=E1=90=A7</span>
   </div>
  </blockquote>
  <div>
   &nbsp;
  </div>
  <div class=3D"default-style">
   &gt; Third one one: Improve func_get_args to return associative arrays.
   <br>
   <br>
  </div>
  <div class=3D"default-style">
   Thanks for the suggestions. Maybe add a new function func_get_named_args=
(): array&lt;string, mixed&gt;, would be a good extension to the named argu=
ments rfc.
  </div>
  <div class=3D"default-style">
   &nbsp;
  </div>
  <div class=3D"default-style">
   Regards
  </div>
  <div class=3D"default-style">
   Thomas
  </div>
 </body>
</html>
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