====== PHP RFC - Deprecate backtick operator ======

  * Version: 42.0.0-epsilon
  * Date: 2018-02-11
  * Author: WesNetmo
  * Status: Under Discussion
  * First Published at: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/deprecate-backtick-operator

===== Introduction =====

The backtick operator (''`dir D:\foo`'') is used to execute commands via shell.

The same functionality is also available as ''shell_exec()''.

===== Proposal =====

This RFC proposes to deprecate (by triggering one among E_DEPRECATED, E_STRICT or E_NOTICE) it in PHP 7.3 and suggest to use ''shell_exec()'' instead:

  * in case PHP decided in future to use backtick enclosed strings for Unicode strings
  * because it is a shady way to execute a rare and dangerous operation
  * because it is weirdly specific to a rare operation; regexp literals, xml-strings literals are way more common use cases, but they don't have a specific string literal

===== Backward Incompatible Changes =====

None, the feature will continue to work until it is removed in future PHP versions, but a notice will be emitted.

===== Proposed PHP Version: =====

7.3

===== Voting =====

2/3 majority will be required.

===== References =====

- [[https://externals.io/message/101823|Discussion on externals]]