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Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2013 14:27:20 -0800
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To: Nikita Popov <nikita.ppv@gmail.com>
Cc: "internals@lists.php.net" <internals@lists.php.net>
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Proposal for serious BC compatibility aka language versioning
From: karoly@negyesi.net (Karoly Negyesi)

Hm, there is a slight miscommunication which is my fault.

I do not suggest a PHP engine being compatible with 5 and 6, gosh, no.

I suggest a PHP engine compatible with 5.3 and 5.4. Is that a
maintenance mess too? The difference should be a lot, lot smaller.

And yes, interaction is a problem and again I'd be glad to discuss on
how to behave for those.

Regards

NK


On Sun, Feb 3, 2013 at 2:22 PM, Nikita Popov <nikita.ppv@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Feb 3, 2013 at 12:36 PM, Karoly Negyesi <karoly@negyesi.net> wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> So, if we are talking about PHP 6, then the opening <?php tag should be
>> accompanied by the version it was written for, it was tested with and then
>> the engine could switch to a compatibility mode for that version.
>>
>> Seems to me that this would solve the problem where a host can't upgrade
>> to
>> a more modern version for fear of breaking old code. Consequently, open
>> source packages -- like Drupal I am deeply involved with -- can't use more
>> modern PHP versions decreasing the "push" for hosts to upgrade. This is a
>> devilish circle and it'd be great to break it.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Karoly Negyesi
>
>
> At least two points why this makes no sense whatsoever:
>
> 1) One would have to maintain or at least keep around all previous versions
> of the engine and the libraries. That would be a shitload of cruft and a lot
> of maintenance work.
>
> 2) Different behavior per-file is not feasible as components in both files
> interact. If you have one <?php6 file and one <?php5 file and both interact
> (like, you know, calling a function from one file in the other one) you will
> have a pretty hard time decided what behavior this should result in. The
> <?php6 behavior or the <?php5 one? So something like this can only be done
> on a per-request basis (rather than per-file). And to do this on a
> per-request basis you already have all the means. Just run two different PHP
> versions. No issue with that; doesn't require no further support from PHP.
>
> Nikita
>