Newsgroups: php.internals
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Xref: news.php.net php.internals:129968
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2026 18:45:52 +0100
To: internals@lists.php.net, Vadim Dvorovenko
 <vadim.dvorovenko@gmail.com>
Message-ID: <019b55a4-8d06-4d88-801e-c3c2de597f1c@Spark>
In-Reply-To: <53c17181-caa4-41a3-b4ab-93069e6bb47b@gmail.com>
References: <53c17181-caa4-41a3-b4ab-93069e6bb47b@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] [RFC] Pipe to return
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From: jordikroon@me.com (Jordi Kroon)

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Hello,

=46irst off, I appreciate the work that has gone into this R=46C.

I like the general direction and I am not fully against the idea. That sa=
id, I am hesitant to introduce another way to express the same thing, esp=
ecially when it affects readability.

Speaking only for myself, I agree with Rob=E2=80=99s point that I expect =
return to appear on the left side. Placing return on the right side insid=
e the pipe makes the statement harder to scan and can be confusing at fir=
st glance.

More importantly, I do not think the responsibility for returning should =
live inside the pipe. Returning is control flow, while the pipe=E2=80=99s=
 core purpose is transforming data. With this change, the pipe no longer =
clearly communicates =E2=80=9Ctransform this value,=E2=80=9D but can inst=
ead become responsible for ending execution. I would rather see the pipe =
produce a result, and keep the return outside the pipe so the intent stay=
s explicit.

Also, while the example below obviously would not work, it highlights the=
 potential ambiguity this introduces. In a long pipeline, it becomes less=
 clear where returning happens and what role the pipe is playing.

function giveMe=46ourtyTwo() =7B
   return 42
       =7C> return;
=7D

Also if you put this into the short =60fn=60 syntax. It will break for th=
e same reasons as above.

fn () =3D> 'hello world'
       =7C> strlen(...)
       =7C> return;

Regards,
Jordi

	
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<html xmlns=3D=22http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml=22>
<head>
<title></title>
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<div dir=3D=22auto=22>Hello,<br />
<br />
=46irst off, I appreciate the work that has gone into this R=46C.<br />
<br />
I like the general direction and I am not fully against the idea. That sa=
id, I am hesitant to introduce another way to express the same thing, esp=
ecially when it affects readability.<br />
<br />
Speaking only for myself, I agree with Rob=E2=80=99s point that I expect =
return to appear on the left side. Placing return on the right side insid=
e the pipe makes the statement harder to scan and can be confusing at fir=
st glance.<br />
<br />
More importantly, I do not think the responsibility for returning should =
live inside the pipe. Returning is control flow, while the pipe=E2=80=99s=
 core purpose is transforming data. With this change, the pipe no longer =
clearly communicates =E2=80=9Ctransform this value,=E2=80=9D but can inst=
ead become responsible for ending execution. I would rather see the pipe =
produce a result, and keep the return outside the pipe so the intent stay=
s explicit.<br />
<br />
Also, while the example below obviously would not work, it highlights the=
 potential ambiguity this introduces. In a long pipeline, it becomes less=
 clear where returning happens and what role the pipe is playing.<br />
<br /></div>
<pre>function giveMe=46ourtyTwo() =7B
    return 42 =20
        =7C&gt; return;
=7D</pre>
<div dir=3D=22auto=22><br />
Also if you put this into the short =60fn=60 syntax. It will break for th=
e same reasons as above.<br />
<br /></div>
<pre>fn () =3D&gt; 'hello world' =20
        =7C&gt; strlen(...) =20
        =7C&gt; return;</pre>
<div dir=3D=22auto=22><br />
Regards,<br />
Jordi</div>
</div>
<div name=3D=22messageReplySection=22><br />
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:solid;=22 class=3D=22spark=5Findent=22></blockquote>
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