Autoboxing in php 5.1

> function foo(Integer $a, Float $b, String $c, Boolean $d) { > > } >

> To be clear: > > Although I think this might be implemented as some sort of object I am > not interested in making objects out of everything. All I want is this: > > function foo(Integer $a, Float $b, String $c, Boolean $d) { > > } > > and be able to introspect against that... how that ultimately gets > implemented (likely PHP would auto-cast that to an int) doesn't matter > to me... but the point here is I think the ability to have more > *optional* meta-data associated with function declarations shouldn't be > brushed off as nonsense when there are real benefits to the ability. > > John > > On Thu, 2005-02-10 at 15:51, John Coggeshall wrote: > >>>You did't answer my question. Why? >> >>I am def. a fan of this idea. I'd love to see internally a set of >>Java-style objects representing the basic types in PHP. >> >>As for why I have two reasons: >> >>Although PHP is not a strongly-typed language and never will be, with >>the introduction of type-hinting I feel that having a standard set of >>objects representing the fundamental types in PHP will allow developers >>of libraries to enforce the proper restrictions if they desire on the >>types which end up in their functions. This further degree of control >>over the architecture in a PHP class makes an architecture tighter and >>easier to manage with growth. >> >>More importantly than the concept of type-hinting, the lack of typing >>information is holding PHP back signifcantly in the realm of Web >>Services. Although for PHP applications as a whole typing has proven >>itself largely unnecessary, without it making PHP a viable and "simple" >>language for the creation of web services isn't feasible. How am I to >>create a WSDL document from a class I would like to expose as a web >>service? Do you honestly expect me to hand-write a WSDL document for my >>object and maintain that WSDL alongside code changes manually? WSDL >>documents were designed to be generated automatically by the >>architecture exposing the web service, and without any notion of typing >>in PHP at all there is no viable way to really do this. >> >>Also let me point out that I am *not* suggesting that PHP become a typed >>language. I am merely am suggesting that the ability for me to enforce >>structure on my objects does indeed have a real benefit without breaking >>backward compatibility or otherwise compromising the spirit of PHP. >> >>John

> The best thing internals could do for WSDL is to add a documentation > lexer to reflection, but I would be surprised if this happens - too > complicated unless it's really crude :)