rfc:stringable

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rfc:stringable [2020/01/16 10:48] nicolasgrekasrfc:stringable [2020/08/01 23:38] (current) – RFC was implemented carusogabriel
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   * Version: 0.9   * Version: 0.9
   * Date: 2020-01-15   * Date: 2020-01-15
-  * Author: Nicolas Grekas, nicolas.grekas+php@gmail.com +  * Author: Nicolas Grekas, nicolasgrekas@php.net 
-  * Status: Draft+  * Status: Implemented
   * First Published at: http://wiki.php.net/rfc/stringable   * First Published at: http://wiki.php.net/rfc/stringable
  
 ===== Introduction ===== ===== Introduction =====
-This PR introduces a new ''Stringable'' interface that can be added to implementations of the ''%%__toString()%%'' method.+ 
 +This RFC introduces a new ''Stringable'' interface that is automatically added to classes that implement the ''%%__toString()%%'' method. 
 It has two goals: It has two goals:
-  - allow using ''string|Stringable'' to express ''string | object-with-%%__toString()%%''+  - allow using ''string|Stringable'' to express ''string|object-with-%%__toString()%%''
   - provide a forward upgrade path from PHP 7 to 8   - provide a forward upgrade path from PHP 7 to 8
  
 ===== Proposal ===== ===== Proposal =====
-Goal 1. is to allow using the ''string|Stringable'' union type in PHP 8, to accept both strings and objects that implement ''%%__toString()%%'' and declare this interface. This is critically missing currently, on codes that deal with stringable objects: they can't be made type-safe.+Goal 1. is to allow using the ''string|Stringable'' union type in PHP 8, to accept both strings and objects that implement ''%%__toString()%%''. This is critically missing currently, on codes that deal with stringable objects: they can't be made type-safe.
  
-On purpose, there is no corresponding ''%%is_stringable()%%'' function, because that would require defining what happens when e.gan int is passed to this function, and [[https://externals.io/message/98424|there are no simple answers to this concern]].+Classes that implement ''%%__toString()%%'' can also declare the interface explicitly. Classes that don't declare the interface explicitly will still declare it implicitlyThis allows both forward compatibility and backward compatibilityusing a polyfill, classes can declare the interface on PHP 7; and on PHP 8, classes that don't do so will still be compatible with the ''string|Stringable'' union type.
  
-On purpose also, for BC, classes that implement ''%%__toString()%%'' aren't required to declare the interface. +Once a polyfill becomes widely available (e.g. [[https://github.com/symfony/polyfill/pull/224|as part of symfony/polyfill-php80]]), code style checkers could be able to enforce declaring the interface when ''%%__toString()%%'' is declared explicitlyfor people that prefer doing so.
-Such classes wouldn't pass the above union type, but that's expected, as that's the semantics of the language. +
- +
-By being simple and without any magic capabilities on its own, this interface is trivially polyfilled on PHP < 8. +
- +
-Once a polyfill becomes widely available (e.g. as part of symfony/polyfill-php80), we can expect code style checkers to be able to enforce declaring the interface when ''%%__toString()%%'' is used. For projects that don't use cs checkersthey'll notice quickly that they missed adding the interface because their users will ask for it when they'll want to pass the ''string|Stringable'' union type.+
  
 Here is the stub declaration of the interface: Here is the stub declaration of the interface:
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 Because it adds the ''string'' return type, this interface has the potential to force a BC break on any existing libraries that want to adopt it. Because it adds the ''string'' return type, this interface has the potential to force a BC break on any existing libraries that want to adopt it.
  
-In order to ease forward and backward compatibility, the PR also adds the return type to existing ''%%__toString()%%'' methods when it's not explicitly declared already. Returning a string is already enforced by the engine so this doesn't change any semantics.+In order to ease forward and backward compatibility, this RFC also proposes to automatically add the return type at compile time when a ''%%__toString()%%'' method doesn't do it explicitly already. Returning a string is already enforced by the engine so this doesn't change any semantics.
  
-This way, code moving to PHP8 won't be forced to add the return type explicitly (which would break BC on their side), and code in PHP < 8 can adopt a polyfill interface immediately (one that doesn't declare the return type for the same BC reasons.) Providing an easy forward-path is the second goal of this PR.+This way, code moving to PHP8 won't be forced to add the return type explicitly (which would break BC on their side), and code in PHP < 8 can adopt a polyfill interface immediately (one that doesn't declare the return type for the same BC reasons.)
  
-For reference, [[https://github.com/symfony/symfony/search?q=%22%40param+string%7Cobject%22+stringable&unscoped_q=%22%40param+string%7Cobject%22+stringable|here are some annotations in Symfony]], added by contributions from real-world use cases and that currently cannot be expressed precisely enough using any union types in PHP 8.+Providing an easy forward-path is the second goal of this RFC. 
 + 
 +For reference, [[https://github.com/symfony/symfony/search?q=%22%40param+string%7Cstringable%22|here are some annotations in Symfony]], added by contributions from real-world use cases and that currently cannot be expressed precisely enough using any union types in PHP 8.
  
 ===== Backward Incompatible Changes ===== ===== Backward Incompatible Changes =====
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 ===== RFC Impact ===== ===== RFC Impact =====
 ==== To Existing Extensions ==== ==== To Existing Extensions ====
-Extensions will need to add the ''string'' return type when they declare ''%%__toString()%%'' methods.+Extensions will need to declare both the interface and the ''string'' return type when they declare ''%%__toString()%%'' methods if they want to pass the ''string|Stringable'' union type.
  
 ===== Open Issues ===== ===== Open Issues =====
-Make sure there are no open issues when the vote starts!+none
  
 ===== Unaffected PHP Functionality ===== ===== Unaffected PHP Functionality =====
-List existing areas/features of PHP that will not be changed by the RFC. +Declaring this interface is not mandatory to benefit from the magic of the ''%%__toString()%%'' method.
- +
-This helps avoid any ambiguity, shows that you have thought deeply about the RFC's impact, and helps reduces mail list noise.+
  
 ===== Future Scope ===== ===== Future Scope =====
-This section details areas where the feature might be improved in future, but that are not currently proposed in this RFC.+void
  
 ===== Proposed Voting Choices ===== ===== Proposed Voting Choices =====
-Accept the proposed interface: yes/no+yes/no 
 + 
 +===== Vote ===== 
 +<doodle title="Adopt the Stringable interface as proposed in this RFC?" auth="nicolasgrekas" voteType="single" closed="true"> 
 +   * Yes 
 +   * No 
 +</doodle>
  
 ===== Patches and Tests ===== ===== Patches and Tests =====
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 ===== Rejected Features ===== ===== Rejected Features =====
-Keep this updated with features that were discussed on the mail lists.+ 
 +  - Adding a new ''%%stringable%%'' special type (like ''iterable'', ''callable'', etc.) is not considered in this RFC because it would require adding a new reserved keyword in the language. This would break BC more heavily and would defeat goal #2 mentioned previously (ability to polyfill on PHP7.) 
 +  - Consistently, this RFC doesn't embed any ''%%is_stringable()%%'' function. If we were to consider one, defining what happens when e.g. an int is passed [[https://externals.io/message/98424|has no simple answers]]. 
 +  - it has been proposed [[https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/5083#issuecomment-573899924|on the GitHub PR]] that the method attached to the interface could be named ''%%toString()%%'' instead of ''%%__toString()%%''. This idea goes further than strictly required to achieve goal #1 and has been objected as not necessary in the following comments. For reference, [[https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/5088|here is a naive implementation]] of the proposal. What the patch highlights is that this increases the complexity of the engine, for a reason that would need to be justified.
rfc/stringable.txt · Last modified: 2020/08/01 23:38 by carusogabriel