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In-Reply-To: <CAGMw7vG5+prmvRgJsLOjajSoWmAm6jbkXwV5KiVs0JspWNk_Bg@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:40:44 -0500
Cc: John Crenshaw <johncrenshaw@priacta.com>,
 Stas Malyshev <smalyshev@sugarcrm.com>,
 PHP Developers Mailing List <internals@lists.php.net>,
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?=C1ngel_Gonz=E1lez?= <keisial@gmail.com>
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To: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Andr=E9_R=F8mcke?= <ar@ez.no>
Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Return Type Hinting for Methods RFC
From: will.fitch@gmail.com (Will Fitch)

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In the interest of providing options for an ability to mark a method as =
returning null, I have added a new patch here: =
http://www.willfitch.com/php/nullable.patch =20

This includes a new token "T_NULLABLE".  Here are a few examples:

// This is allowed
private nullable ArrayIterator getIterator()
{
   return null;
}

// This throws an E_RECOVERABLE_ERROR
private ArrayIterator getIterator()
{
    return null;
}

The token/identifier can certainly change, but I want to provide the =
most options for the best solution.


On Dec 23, 2011, at 6:31 PM, Andr=E9 R=F8mcke wrote:

> 2011/12/23 John Crenshaw <johncrenshaw@priacta.com>
> > From: Will Fitch [mailto:will.fitch@gmail.com]
> >
> > I would like to take this opportunity to query on a consensus:
> >
> > Would you prefer to allow methods with type hinted return values to =
return null at will, or add a marker noting that it *may* return null?
> >
> > Example: Return null at will
> >
> > public ArrayIterator getIterator()
> > {
> >    // something happened, will return null
> >    return null;
> > }
> >
> > Example: Return only if identified as such
> >
> > public ArrayIterator? getIterator()
> > {
> >     return null;
> > }
>=20
> I hate the syntax in the second example (using ?).
>=20
>=20
> It looks strange, but easy to get used to. Two examples from C#:
>=20
>=20
> public decimal? Grade { get; set; }
>=20
> public Nullable<System.DateTime> Time { get; set; }
>=20
> =20
>=20
> IMO allowing null should be the default unless specifically =
disallowed.
>=20
> I disagree for the reasons mentioned by for instance Robert.
> Type hints should be strict/explicit or not done at all.


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