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Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2015 16:41:00 +0000
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 PHP internals <internals@lists.php.net>
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To: Nikita Popov <nikita.ppv@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV][RFC][VOTE] Group Use Declarations
From: ajf@ajf.me (Andrea Faulds)

Hey,

> On 13 Feb 2015, at 16:24, Nikita Popov <nikita.ppv@gmail.com> wrote:
>=20
> I'm in favor of this RFC. Honestly I don't really understand the =
negativity
> it is getting around here.
>=20
> The ability to import multiple items from one namespace is a
> well-established feature you'll find in many languages employing some =
kind
> of namespacing. I don't think the availability of what I lovingly call =
"IDE
> vomit" is a good reason to decline a feature - a programming language
> should be able stand on its own and not require IDE assistance for
> reasonable use.
>=20
> The syntax seems pretty obvious as well - but maybe I just had too =
much
> exposure to Rust, which makes extensive use of the same syntax.

My thoughts echo Nikita=E2=80=99s.

I think this feature would be especially important if PHP gets function =
autoloading (which it may yet gain in PHP 7 - a certain someone has been =
working on it). Currently, sets of independent functions have to be =
implemented as static classes. But with function autoloading, they=E2=80=99=
d have to be imported independently, and that would lead to way too many =
use statements.

This feature is familiar to people who have used other languages, as =
Nikita mentioned. In Python, I might do this:

    from somelibrary.math import sin, cos, tan, degrees, radians

Simple, uncumbersome, readable.

The equivalent in PHP is this:

    use function SomeLibrary\Math\sin;
    use function SomeLibrary\Math\cos;
    use function SomeLibrary\Math\tan;
    use function SomeLibrary\Math\degrees;
    use function SomeLibrary\Math\radius;

Ouch. Not fun to type, not fun to read, takes up way more space than it =
should. This is just a modest five functions, too - in many cases =
you=E2=80=99d be importing more.

But with Marcio=E2=80=99s proposal, we could instead write this:

    use function SomeLibrary\Math\{sin, cos, tan, degrees, radius};

Much better, no? I know which one I=E2=80=99d rather read and write.

It=E2=80=99d be a real shame if this doesn=E2=80=99t pass.

--
Andrea Faulds
http://ajf.me/