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I also thought about the same for functions, just to be even more
consistent.
my_func::function

On Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 2:33 PM, Michael Döhler michaeldoehler@me.com
wrote:

I am open for any approach, but maybe we have to differentiate between
class constants and method references?

Given the discussion we had around the namespace separator (and why we
DIDN'T go with ::), there may be similar issues here. Maybe not,
given the final component is specifically T_METHOD, but it should be
prototyped to be sure.

As to what such a reference would evaluate to: Foo::bar::method -> [
Foo::class, 'bar' ] as Michael Döhler suggests seems the obvious
answer, but (Foo::class.'::bar') may be what some would expect.
Ideally we'd have first-class references to functions.

-Sara

Ideally we'd have first-class references to functions.
-Sara

To chime in..

To my mind, references to functions is the holy grail so far as
beginning to clean up the entire ecosystem around function calls.

IMHO directly referencing MyClass::StaticFunction eventually needs to
return a "Function" class that is directly invokable.

I see 3 contexts that the parser would need to handle:

1. Standard Calling

MyClass::StaticFunction(1, 2, 3);
my_function(1, 2, 3)
$inst->my_function(1234);

Obviously returning a full function object to useland for every call
would be considered wasteful, so the parser would need to call these as
before.

2. Returning a native "Function" class, an __invokeable hybrid of
   Callable and Reflection;

$method = MyClass::StaticFunction;
$method(1, 2, 3);

$method = $inst->my_function; /* bind to $inst */
$method(1, 2, 3);

$method->getName();
$method->getArgumentCount();
$method->getBinding();

3. Returning closures when the argument list includes one or more
   late-bound values, so we can finally put the pipe operator to bed at the
   same time as getting a bunch of other power from it.

$method = MyClass::StaticFunction($1, 'Arg 1', 'Arg 3);
$method('Arg 1');

$method = $inst->my_function('Arg 1', 'Arg 2', $1);
$method('Arg 3');

chain(
'Random String',
func_1($1, 'Hello', 'World'),
func_2($1, 'Peace', 'Out'),
func_3('ThisOneNeeds', 'Arg3ReplacingInstead', $1),
func_3($1, $1, 'HowAboutOneWhichUsesTheSameArgumentTwice')
);

function chain($start, ... $fns) {
foreach ($fns as $fncall) {
$start = $fncall($start);
}

return $start;

}

--
Mark Randall

answer, but (Foo::class.'::bar') may be what some would expect.
Ideally we'd have first-class references to functions.

-Sara

To chime in..

To my mind, references to functions is the holy grail so far as
beginning to clean up the entire ecosystem around function calls.

IMHO directly referencing MyClass::StaticFunction eventually needs to
return a "Function" class that is directly invokable.

I see 3 contexts that the parser would need to handle:

1. Standard Calling

MyClass::StaticFunction(1, 2, 3);
my_function(1, 2, 3)
$inst->my_function(1234);

Obviously returning a full function object to useland for every call
would be considered wasteful, so the parser would need to call these as
before.

2. Returning a native "Function" class, an __invokeable hybrid of
   Callable and Reflection;

$method = MyClass::StaticFunction;
$method(1, 2, 3);

$method = $inst->my_function; /* bind to $inst */
$method(1, 2, 3);

$method->getName();
$method->getArgumentCount();
$method->getBinding();

3. Returning closures when the argument list includes one or more
   late-bound values, so we can finally put the pipe operator to bed at the
   same time as getting a bunch of other power from it.

$method = MyClass::StaticFunction($1, 'Arg 1', 'Arg 3);
$method('Arg 1');

$method = $inst->my_function('Arg 1', 'Arg 2', $1);
$method('Arg 3');

chain(
'Random String',
func_1($1, 'Hello', 'World'),
func_2($1, 'Peace', 'Out'),
func_3('ThisOneNeeds', 'Arg3ReplacingInstead', $1),
func_3($1, $1, 'HowAboutOneWhichUsesTheSameArgumentTwice')
);

function chain($start, ... $fns) {
foreach ($fns as $fncall) {
$start = $fncall($start);
}

return $start;

}

--
Mark Randall