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Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2016 13:11:47 -0700
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Pipe Operator v2
From: smalyshev@gmail.com (Stanislav Malyshev)

Hi!

>> $x = loadConfig();
>> $x = buildDic($x);
>> $x = getApp($x)
>> $x = getRouter($x)
>> $x = getDispatcher($x, $request)
>> $x = dispatchBusinessLogic($x, $request, new Response())
>> $x = renderResponse($x)
>> $x = buildPsr7Response($x)
>> $response =emit($x);
>>
> 
> I agree the example code is readable, but it makes me feel the
> language is a little obsolete.

This is a mindset that I feel to be objectionable and take issue with.
The idea that we have to constantly invent new syntax to replace working
old one, just because old is somehow "obsolete", even though new
syntax's only advantage is doing things slightly differently - it seems
to me an exactly wrong idea. It may be exciting to invent new syntaxes -
but for an industry programmer that has other priorities, like code
stability, compatibility, maintainability, etc. "new" is not a positive
things unless it gives them measurable or at least perceivable
improvement on these qualities.

Existing syntax is not "obsolete" and works completely well. New syntax
invents new magic variables (thing that never existed in PHP before,
adding a whole new conceptual level to PHP mental model)  and a new way
of doing the same thing that is already perfectly doable right now with
exactly the same effort. I personally strongly object to such changes.

There is a lot of ways in which PHP needs improvement, but right now I
think inventing more syntax tricks in not one of them. Even in syntax
department, PHP has areas where we could use improvement (e.g. to name
named arguments as one) but this one doesn't seem to do much but doing
the same thing in a shiny new way. Read: less comprehensible for people
not watching "latest new 20 syntaxes PHP invented in the next version",
more things to learn to read PHP code, more things to maintain, more
complexity for the language that once was supposed to be accessible to
beginners.
This is the price of all innovation, but sometimes benefits are much
greater and the price is completely warranted. I do not feel this is the
case here.
-- 
Stas Malyshev
smalyshev@gmail.com