rfc:counterargument:deprecate_php_short_tags

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rfc:counterargument:deprecate_php_short_tags [2019/08/05 22:42] – created zeevrfc:counterargument:deprecate_php_short_tags [2019/08/05 22:55] – zeev
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 ==== Overview ==== ==== Overview ====
  
-The motivation for removing short tags as it is illustrated in the V2 RFC is quite weak.  Essentially - it does not present //**any**// new motivations that did not exist 20+ years ago, when this syntax was first introduced.  At the time, all the different potential opening and closing tags were heavily discussed, and all the implications - including the ones brought up by the deprecation RFC - were known back then.  There is no new 'evidence' available here.+The motivation for removing short tags as it is illustrated in the V2 RFC is quite weak.  Essentially - it does not present //**any**// new motivations that did not exist 20+ years ago, when this syntax was first introduced.  At the time, all the different potential opening and closing tags were heavily discussed, and all the implications - including the ones brought up by the deprecation RFC - were already known.  There is no new 'evidence' available here.
  
-It's certainly possible to argue that the wrong decision was made back then - but it's very difficult to justify a position claiming that it's so bad that it must be removed today - even though nothing about the dry facts changed.+It's certainly possible to argue that the wrong decision was made back then - but it's very difficult to justify a position claiming that the situation is so bad that we must now remove this syntax - even though nothing about the underlying dry facts has changed.
  
-The one thing that did change, which makes it even more difficult to justify this position, is that unlike back then, when PHP was rounding error in terms of language popularity, today - it is one of the most widely used languages in the world.  Even if just a small subset of PHP developers are using this syntax - this deprecation is going to affect hundreds of thousands of people (20 years ago, it would affect virtually no one).+The one thing that did change, which makes it even more difficult to justify this deprecation, is that unlike back then, when PHP was rounding error in terms of language popularity, today - it is one of the most widely used languages in the world.  This means that even if only a small subset of PHP developers are using this syntax - this deprecation is going to affect hundreds of thousands of people (20 years ago, it would affect virtually no one).
  
 ==== Analyzing The Motivations For Deprecation ==== ==== Analyzing The Motivations For Deprecation ====
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 === Counterpoint: Short tags were never meant to be portable === === Counterpoint: Short tags were never meant to be portable ===
  
-Short tags were, from the get-go, //**never meant for being used in portable code to begin with**//.  After over 20 years in the wild, this is very much a known quantity that does not surprise anyone.  From the very beginning, when the discussion about what the tags would look like in PHP 3, it was clear it will be possible to disable the processing of short tags (more on that below), and that they would consequently not be usable in portable code.+Short tags were, from the get-go, //**never meant for being used in portable code to begin with**//.  After over 20 years in the wild, this is very much a known quantity that surprises hardly anyone.  From the very beginning, when the discussion about what the tags would look like in PHP 3, it was clear it will be possible to disable the processing of short tags (more on that below), and that they would consequently not be usable in portable code.
  
-Virtually all (if not literally all) projects that are meant for redistribution - be they apps or frameworks - have rules that prohibit the use of short tags.  Short tags are used, de-facto, exclusively for non-portable code by people and companies that have complete control over their stack.+Virtually all (if not literally all) PHP-based projects that are meant for redistribution - be they apps or frameworks - have rules that prohibit the use of short tags.  Short tags are used, de-facto, exclusively for non-portable code by people and companies that have complete control over their stack.
  
 In reality, deprecating short tags does not have any meaningful contribution to making PHP codebases more portable - the ones who need to be portable are already not using this syntax, and the ones which are not - aren't meant for distribution to begin with. In reality, deprecating short tags does not have any meaningful contribution to making PHP codebases more portable - the ones who need to be portable are already not using this syntax, and the ones which are not - aren't meant for distribution to begin with.
rfc/counterargument/deprecate_php_short_tags.txt · Last modified: 2019/08/05 23:09 by zeev

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