PHP RFC: Make the PHP core case-sensitive

• Version: 0.0
• Date: 2014-12-26
• Author: François Laupretre, francois@tekwire.net
• Status: Inactive
• First Published at: http://wiki.php.net/rfc/case-sensitivity

This RFC is about making the PHP core case-sensitive.

Case-sensitive

Case-sensitive

self, parent, static ->lowercase

Case-sensitive

lowercase except 'toString' ('tostring' and 'toString' are valid).

Case-sensitive

Remove support for case-insensitive constants. Remove CONST_CS flag.

Special cases for existing case-insensitive built-in constants. The following case-sensitive constants will be defined:

• 'NULL', 'null', 'Null',
• 'TRUE', 'true', 'True',
• 'FALSE', 'false', 'False'

Every other case combination, like 'tRUE' or 'TrUe', will be considered as userspace constants.

Case-sensitive

Keyword list at https://github.com/php/php-langspec/blob/master/spec/09-lexical-structure.md#keywords

lowercase-only

'__halt_compiler' -> lowercase

List the proposed PHP versions that the feature will be included in. Use relative versions such as “next PHP 5.x” or “next PHP 5.x.y”.

Describe the impact to CLI, Development web server, embedded PHP etc.

• 'NULL', 'null', 'Null'
• 'TRUE', 'true', 'True'
• 'FALSE', 'false', 'False'

If there are any php.ini settings then list:

• hardcoded default values
• php.ini-development values
• php.ini-production values

Make sure there are no open issues when the vote starts!

List existing areas/features of PHP that will not be changed by the RFC.

This helps avoid any ambiguity, shows that you have thought deeply about the RFC's impact, and helps reduces mail list noise.

This sections details areas where the feature might be improved in future, but that are not currently proposed in this RFC.

Include these so readers know where you are heading and can discuss the proposed voting options.

State whether this project requires a 2/3 or 50%+1 majority (see voting)

Links to any external patches and tests go here.

If there is no patch, make it clear who will create a patch, or whether a volunteer to help with implementation is needed.

Make it clear if the patch is intended to be the final patch, or is just a prototype.

After the project is implemented, this section should contain

1. the version(s) it was merged to
2. a link to the git commit(s)
3. a link to the PHP manual entry for the feature

Links to external references, discussions or RFCs

Keep this updated with features that were discussed on the mail lists.