Change output of gettype? View as Markdown

BohwaZ php@bohwaz.net hat am 01.12.2025 21:12 CET geschrieben:

Hi all,

PHP 8.5 has deprecated the following type names:

• integer
• double
• boolean
• binary

But the gettype() function still returns integer, double and boolean
instead of int, float and bool.

This inconsistency is quite confusing for new developers (and even older
ones).

I understand that changing the return of gettype might break a lot of
existing code, so maybe it's not a good idea (yet).

But maybe we could add a parameter to gettype, for example:

gettype(mixed $value, bool $strict = false): string

If true, then it would return the "new" canonical names. And then in
the next version emit a depreciation notice if $strict is not supplied.

And then in PHP 9 maybe change the default return of gettype, but still
allow to pass $strict = false, so that upgrading the existing code base
would just be a matter of doing a regexp replace of gettype(...) to
gettype(..., false).

Adding a depreciation notice if $strict is not supplied would make
things just painful for everyone I think though.

It's a small thing but it seems like having the same canonical names
everywhere would make things more consistent.

Or the cheap solution would be to just add the $strict parameter
and update the gettype documentation to say that the types returned
by default are not the "new" scalar and passing $strict is needed in
order to match what "new" PHP is using.

Cheers everyone.

Hello,

thank you! To me it makes sense and improves consistency.
Instead of returning a String it would be also possible to return an Enum but that would more likely be a new function.

There were previous rfcs for new functions:
https://wiki.php.net/rfc/var_type
https://wiki.php.net/rfc/var_info

Best Regards
Thomas

Le 01/12/2025 à 21:12, BohwaZ a écrit :

Hi all,

PHP 8.5 has deprecated the following type names:

• integer
• double
• boolean
• binary

But the gettype() function still returns integer, double and boolean
instead of int, float and bool.

This inconsistency is quite confusing for new developers (and even older
ones).

I understand that changing the return of gettype might break a lot of
existing code, so maybe it's not a good idea (yet).

And if I remember correctly, that's exactly why get_debug_type() was
introduced: no BC break, and it does the job.

You should simply use get_debug_type() everywhere and never use
gettype() ever again. This is the most sensible move you can make, it
really is the function you should use in most case.

--

Pierre