PHP RFC: Closure from callable function

• Version: 1
• Date: 2016-04-23
• Author: Dan Ackroyd, Danack@php.net
• Status: Implemented (PHP 7.1)
• First Published at: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/closurefromcallable

PHP lacks a simple function to convert callables into a closure directly. Although it is possible to do this in userland, it is slow compared to what is possible with a built-in function, due to the number of reflection functions needed to be called, as well needing to create intermediary reflection objects.

This RFC proposes adding a static method to the Closure class, to allow conversion of callables into closures directly. The method signature would be:

class Closure {
    ...
    public static function fromCallable(callable $callable) : Closure {...}
    ...
}

The function will check whether the callable is actually callable in the current scope. It will return a closure if it is callable, otherwise throw a TypeError. For example trying to create a closure to a private method of an object from the global scope would fail. Trying to create a closure to a private method of an object from within the object would succeed.

There are three uses for converting callables into closures:

• Better API control for classes

• Easier error detection and static analysis

• Performance

Currently if a class wants to return a method to be used as a callback, the method must be exposed as part of the public api of the class e.g.:

class Validator {
 
    public function getValidatorCallback($validationType) {
 
        if ($validationType == 'email') {
            return [$this, 'emailValidation'];
        }
 
        return [$this, 'genericValidation'];
    }
 
    public function emailValidation($userData) {...}
 
    public function genericValidation($userData) {...}
}
 
$validator = new Validator();
$callback = $validator-> getValidatorCallback('email');
$callback($userData);

With the Closure::fromCallable() method, the class can easily return a closure that closes over private functions, which means those functions are no longer part of the public API.

class Validator {
 
    public function getValidatorCallback($validationType) {
 
        if ($validationType == 'email') {
            return Closure::fromCallable([$this, 'emailValidation']);
        }
 
        return Closure::fromCallable([$this, 'genericValidation']);
    }
 
    private function emailValidation($userData) {...}
 
    private function genericValidation($userData) {...}
}
 
$validator = new Validator();
$callback = $validator->getValidatorCallback('email');
$callback($userData);

Currently when you return a string to be used as a callable, if the string is not a valid function name, an error will be generated when the invalid function name is called. Having the error be generated far from where the original problem occurs makes this hard to debug.

function foo() { }
 
function getCallback() {
    return 'food'; //oops the function name is misspelled.
}
 
$callback = getCallback();
// ...
// more code here.
//...
$callback(); //error happens here

With the closure function, the error is generated on the line where the typo exists. This makes debugging the problem be a lot easier, as well as making it easier to statically analyze whether the program has potential bugs.

function foo() { }
 
function getCallback() {
    return Closure::fromCallable('food'); //error happens here
}
 
$callback = getCallback();
 
// ...
// more code here.
//...
$callback(); //Because the getCallback function returned a closure, this is guaranteed to be callable.

Although PHP has a 'callable' type it is quite slow to use compared to other types. This is due to the amount of work that is needed to check whether a 'callable' is actually a valid callable or not. This work needs to be performed each time the 'callable' parameter is called.

Below are two files that call a function 10,000 times which calls itself recursively 8 times. One version has a callable type for the parameter, the other has Closure as the type. Measuring the number of operations with

valgrind --tool=callgrind ./sapi/cli/php perf_callable.php

  valgrind --tool=callgrind ./sapi/cli/php perf_closure.php
  

gives the number of operations to be:

Which is saving 16% of the operations, or a difference of 1,894 operations per loop or about 230 operations per function call where the callable is passed..

The function has been implemented in this PR: https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/1906

As this is a simple function addition with no language changes, the voting will require a 50%+1 majority to include this in PHP 7.1

Voting will close at 9pm UTC on the 29th of May 2016.

Accept Closure from Callble? (50%+1 majority required)
Real name	Yes	No
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Final result:	40	0
This poll has been closed.

Although I would prefer to implement this as a short function e.g.

    function fn(callable $callable) : Closure {}

there are downsides that make that be a poor choice.

It clutters up the root namespace, which in general is bad practice. Making the implementation be a static method of the Closure class avoids this problem, as well as avoid clashing with future needs. For example Hack has specific separate implementations for converting strings, instance methods to closures. We may wish to add these in the future. Using a static method with a descriptive name avoids clashing with those names in the future.

If anyone wants to use a short name for this functionality in their application or library they can do so easily, by defining a function:

    function fn(callable $callable) : Closure {
        return Closure::fromCallable($callable);
    }

Hack has a similar functionality, but they have chosen to split the functionality into separate functions for each of the cases.

• Strings which should be a function: http://docs.hhvm.com/manual/en/function.hack.fun.php
• Instance and method name: http://docs.hhvm.com/manual/en/function.hack.inst_meth.php
• Class name and method name: http://docs.hhvm.com/manual/en/function.hack.class_meth.php

They have included these to allow programs to be easier to reason about, and allows their type-checker to statically analyze the hack programs.

However this RFC takes the position that it is inappropriate to have a separate function per type. Instead having a single function that takes any callable parameter is more powerful, and easier for users to use.

Merged into php-src for PHP 7.1: https://github.com/php/php-src/commit/63ca65d

After the project is implemented, this section should contain

1. a link to the PHP manual entry for the feature

<?php
//File perf_callable.php
 
class foo {
    public function bar() { }
}
 
function passIt(callable $callable, $count)
{
    if ($count > 0) {
        passIt($callable, $count - 1);
    }
    else {
        $callable();
    }
}
 
function getCallable($foo) : callable 
{
    return [$foo, 'bar'];
}
 
$foo = new Foo();
 
for ($x=0; $x<10000 ; $x++) {
    $callable = getCallable($foo);
    passIt($callable, 8);
}
 
echo "OK";

<?php
//File perf_closure.php
 
class foo {
    public function bar() {
    }
}
 
function passIt(Closure $callable, $count) {
    if ($count > 0) {
        passIt($callable, $count - 1);
    }
    else {
        $callable();
    }
}
 
function getCallable($foo) : Closure
{
    return Closure::fromCallable([$foo, 'bar']);
}
 
$foo = new Foo();
 
for ($x=0; $x<10000 ; $x++) {
    $callable = getCallable($foo);
    passIt($callable, 8);
}
 
echo "OK";