PHP RFC: Resource typehint

• Version: 0.1
• Date: 2015-11-11
• Author: Ben Scholzen, mail@dasprids.de
• Status: Under Discussion
• First Published at: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/resource_typehint

So far, every PHP type is supported by both parameter typehints and return types, except resources. This RFC should close this gap.

The ``resource`` typehint and return type should be added to the engine, working the same way like ``is_resource()`` does. This would also mean to make ``resource`` a reserved classname.

function should_return_resource(): resource {
    return true; // Return value of should_return_resource() must be of the type resource, boolean returned
}

function only_accepts_resource(resource $foo) {
}
 
only_accepts_resource(fopen('php://memory', 'w'));

This RFC adds ``resource`` as reserved classname. This may collide with existing classes which are neither namespaced nor prefixed.

This is proposed for the next minor version of PHP, currently PHP 7.1.

As this is a language change, a 2/3 majority is required. The vote is a straight Yes/No vote for accepting the RFC and merging the patch.

Considered final patch: https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/1631