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Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2026 15:13:57 +0100
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] [VOTE] let construct (Block Scoping)
To: =?UTF-8?Q?Benjamin_Au=C3=9Fenhofer?= <kontakt@beberlei.de>
Cc: php internals <internals@lists.php.net>, Seifeddine Gmati <azjezz@carthage.software>, 
	=?UTF-8?Q?Tim_D=C3=BCsterhus?= <tim@bastelstu.be>
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From: arnaud.lb@gmail.com (Arnaud Le Blanc)

Hi,

On Fri, Jan 23, 2026 at 10:59=E2=80=AFAM Benjamin Au=C3=9Fenhofer
<kontakt@beberlei.de> wrote:
> I agree that relying on reference counting can bite you, but I still vote=
d Yes, because
>
> We only have reference counting to rely on in PHP as far as memory goes

For disposal, only if we decide so. The RFC proposes to introduce
block scoping, and could have made the decision to deterministically
dispose of values as they go out of scope.

The RFC refers to similar features in Python and Hack, with the same
basic syntax, both of which use reference counting as primary garbage
collection mechanism, yet disposal is deterministic in this context.

> and thats what people writing cleanup critical code rely on already. This=
 gives a much nicer syntax.

In my experience, relying on this causes occasional bugs that are
unusually difficult to address (and to avoid in the first place).

> The future scope lists improvements as next steps, like the error when RC=
 > 1 or Disposable interfaces, this is a first step towards something that =
is missing dearly.

Unfortunately these improvements won't make it because they will be
breaking changes.

Best Regards,
Arnaud