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To: internals@lists.php.net,Andrey Andreev <narf@devilix.net>
Message-ID: <8B230568-9074-4928-B9C9-F1F138054CD7@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] [Discussion] is_string(), string type and objects implementing __toString()
From: rowan.collins@gmail.com (Rowan Collins)

Hi Andrey,

I think this is an interesting area to explore, but do think the scope nee=
ds to be widened slightly=2E


On 8 March 2017 12:25:54 GMT+00:00, Andrey Andreev <narf@devilix=2Enet> wr=
ote:
>I ultimately wouldn't care if it's a separate function and did in fact
>think of an is_stringable() function, but wasn't happy with the naming
>- who's to say that e=2Eg=2E integers aren't stringable? Bar
>horribly-verbose names like
>"string_or_objects_implementing__toString", I don't think there's a
>way to avoid that ambiguity=2E :/
>If we want a "stringable" type though

Sometimes, the fact that you can't think of a good name for a function is =
a clue that the function isn't solving a well-defined problem=2E

In this case, why *wouldn't* the function return true for integers? If the=
 question the function is asking is "can this value be cast to string?" the=
n the answer for any integer should be "yes"=2E If the question is "will it=
 pass a strict type check as a string", then the answer for objects would a=
lways be "no"=2E Am I missing a situation where casting an object would be =
safe, but casting an integer wouldn't?

My own thought, mentioned somewhere in the long debate about scalar type h=
ints, was to have a "can be cast to" function, which basically predicts if =
a *weak* type hint would accept the value without errors or warnings=2E Thi=
s would work for stringable objects, but also for numeric strings, etc=2E

Regards,

--=20
Rowan Collins
[IMSoP]