PHP: rfc:rename-double-colon-token

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====== PHP RFC: Rename T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM to T_DOUBLE_COLON ======
  * Version: 0.1.0
  * Date: 2020-04-11
  * Authors: George Peter Banyard <girgias@php.net>, Kalle Sommer Nielsen <kalle@php.net>
  * Status: Declined
  * First Published at: http://wiki.php.net/rfc/rename-double-colon-token

===== Introduction =====
The ''T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM'' token representing the ''::'' characters sequence is often a source of confusion the first time it is encountered.

===== Historical significance =====
The ''T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM'' token first appeared in version 0.5 of the Zend Engine, which powered PHP 3, and which was developed in Israel.

This continues to remind us of the major contribution the Israeli community has brought to PHP by laying its modern foundation.

This information is available on the [[https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.paamayim-nekudotayim.php|Scope Resolution Operator]][1] page.

===== Newcomer experience =====
Seeing a really cryptic message during a parse error can lead to frustrations as it's not obvious what is wrong.
Although it is true that a simple online search will usually grant an explanation of what the issue is.

However, PHP is for most people their first programming language and therefore may not have the instinct to do an online search and will end up frustrated.

===== Why fix it now? =====
We believe that PHP is still an active and growing language and that improving the newcomer experience is something we should strive for.

===== Proposal =====
Rename the ''T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM'' token to its alias ''T_DOUBLE_COLON''.\\
And make ''T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM'' an alias to ''T_DOUBLE_COLON''.

===== Backward Incompatible Changes =====
None, as ''T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM'' will become an alias to ''T_DOUBLE_COLON''.

===== Proposed PHP Version =====
PHP 8.0.

===== Future Scope =====
Starting with PHP 8.0, it is possible to deprecate global constants within the engine [2], therefore we might consider deprecating the ''T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM'' constant in a future version.

===== Vote =====
Yes/No with 2/3 majority.

Voting started 2020-06-25 and ends 2020-07-09.

<doodle title="Rename T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM to T_DOUBLE_COLON?" auth="girgias" voteType="single" closed="true">
   * Yes
   * No
</doodle>

===== Patches and Tests =====
https://gist.github.com/KalleZ/e5be75fa515db625200df955d5d814b8

===== References =====
[1] [[https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.paamayim-nekudotayim.php]] \\
[2] [[https://github.com/php/php-src/commit/9ec1ee5976f4c0131943cc8863a344caf5492773]] \\
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