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Message-ID: <200710061338.47307.larry@garfieldtech.com>
Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] substr/array_slice in []
From: larry@garfieldtech.com (Larry Garfield)

I have no love for Perl (and a rather strong dislike of it), but I have to 
agree with those who say that "looks like Perl" is a lame reason to reject 
something.  PHP's object system looks an awful lot like Java, too.  That 
doesn't make it bad.  

"Too unreadable", "not approachable enough", "too inflexible", etc. are 
perfectly valid reasons to reject a syntax.  "Looks like <insert language 
here>" is not, I content, one of them.

On Saturday 06 October 2007, Marcus Boerger wrote:
> Hello Larry,
>
>   ArrayAccess is not designed to work in any array functions and we
> explicitly decided against going that route. We wanted ArrayAccess to
> support the array syntax, so [x,y] should be supported if we want that.
> However I agree that this kind of slicing is a bit too perlish or
> pythonish.
>
> marcus
>
> Friday, October 5, 2007, 3:05:30 AM, you wrote:
> > On Tuesday 02 October 2007, Alexey Zakhlestin wrote:
> >> On 10/1/07, Martin Alterisio <malterisio777@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > Sorry to bother, I have a few questions on this matter.
> >> > How will this impact on the SPL ArrayAccess and related interfaces and
> >> > objects?
> >> > Will there be an interface to this functionality?
> >> > If so, how will ranges be passed through to this interface?
> >> > Will this be consistent with substr() and array_slice() if used with
> >> > an ArrayAccess implementation?
> >>
> >> I guess it can be made to work with current ArrayAccess, but result
> >> will be quite slow. (it will need to query requested elements
> >> one-by-one and recombine those in array)
> >>
> >> But adding another interface can solve the problem. Ranges can be
> >> passed exactly the way they are passed to [] operator
> >>
> >> public function rangeGet($start, $length);
> >> public function rangeSet($start, $length, array $data);
> >
> > Here's the question I see.  Right now, does an ArrayAccess object work
> > with array_slice()?  If so, then [2, 5] syntax would be just some nice
> > syntactic sugar.  If not, then it becomes a powerful new feature, and
> > implementing it on normal arrays and strings becomes just a matter of
> > consistent syntax.
> >
> > Personaly I kinda like it, but I know I'm not the one coding it.
> >
> > --
> > Larry Garfield                  AIM: LOLG42
> > larry@garfieldtech.com          ICQ: 6817012
> >
> > "If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of
> > exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an
> > idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it
> > to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the
> > possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of
> > it."  -- Thomas Jefferson
>
> Best regards,
>  Marcus


-- 
Larry Garfield			AIM: LOLG42
larry@garfieldtech.com		ICQ: 6817012

"If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of 
exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, 
which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to 
himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession 
of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it."  -- Thomas 
Jefferson