====== PHP RFC: Short ternary Assignment Operator ======
  * Version: 0.1.0
  * Date: 2016-03-10
  * Author: Sara Golemon <pollita@php.net> (Heavily cribbed from Midori Kocak <mtkocak@gmail.com>)
  * Status: Under Discussion
  * First Published at: http://wiki.php.net/rfc/short_ternary_equal_operator


===== Introduction =====

Most binary expressions in PHP (e.g. `$x = $y op $z;`) have a shorthand form for self assignment (where the lefthand of the binary op is the same as the lefthand of the assignment), in this example: `$x = $x op $y;` is the same as `$x op= $y;`.  While it's true for most binary operations, it is not true for the null coalesce operator (the subject of http://wiki.php.net/rfc/null_coalesce_equal_operator ) or the short ternary operator: `?:`.

===== Proposal =====

Add an assignment operatory for short ternary expressions such that the following two lines of code are equivalent:

<code php>
$x = $x ?: $y;
$x ?:= $y;
</code>

Thus, the value of right-hand parameter is assigned by value to the left-hand variable if the left-hand variable is currently falsy.

===== Proposed PHP Version(s) =====

This proposed for the next PHP 7.x.

===== Patches and Tests ====

https://github.com/php/php-src/compare/master...sgolemon:short-ternary.coalesce

===== Vote =====

As this is a language change, a 2/3 majority is required. A straight Yes/No vote is being held.

<doodle title="Approve Short Ternary Assignment Operator RFC and merge oatch into master?" auth="pollita" voteType="single" closed="true">
   * Yes
   * No
</doodle>

On 2016-03-24 vote was closed a few hours after opening (at 9:3 in favor)  due to issues with the proposed implementation.  It will be reopened at a later time (with a fresh vote).

===== References =====

This is essentially the same proposal as https://wiki.php.net/rfc/null_coalesce_equal_operator with a focus on the short ternary operator, rather than the null coalesce operator.