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PHP 6 When?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 12:20 am
by alex.barylski
Just curious but when is the first stable.production release of PHP 6 expected?

I see you can download 6 in the snapshots...but when will they say "use it for production" :P

Anyone have a educated guess or inside connections? :)

Re: PHP 6 When?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 12:33 am
by Syntac
Most likely sometime in 2009, since 5.3 is scheduled for the end of 2008 (?).

Re: PHP 6 When?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 1:22 am
by alex.barylski
I've been Googling like crazy trying to finds articles on PHP 6 unicode...very little. :(

I'm eager to start playing with the intl functions (which appear available from CVS) and attempt to make my application Internationalized...but I'm nervous to use something so poorly documented.

In addition to my less than ideal understanding of internationalization...

I'm sitting here thinking...maybe now is time to pick up learning Python... :P

Re: PHP 6 When?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 1:41 am
by Luke
its always a good time to start learning python... simply because it rocks! but php rocks too. :)

Re: PHP 6 When?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 2:05 am
by alex.barylski
As I understand it Python has a better OO model...although just looking at some examples I dislike a lot of their syntax.

It doesn't appear to use {} braces for nesting. While not strictly bad practice what it does do is prevent my IDE from collapsing entire blocks of code to focus strictly on the problem at hand. Source code folding essentially, very handy feature.

I also dislike the 'elif' what the hell is that? :P

Why do we need to use abbreviations in 2008? Whats wrong with 'else if'?

I look at the code and wonder if perhaps it uses whitespace as a way of "bracing" code implicitly through tabs, etc...similar to some Linux config files (Postifx?).

While some might argue that is bad practice...in one way I would see that as a blessing in disguise as it would certainly stop people from writing code the way they want too...

For example I personally cannot stand:

Code: Select all

if($a==$b){ echo 'Hello world'; }
I prefer:

Code: Select all

 
if($a == $b){
  echo 'Hello world';
}
 
1. Long lines always buckle when I print
2. I find the separate lines lets me keep my focus on the context of the problem. Basically as I encounter each brace my mind goes into a separate "state" or context in attempt to think like the computer...if everything is jumbled on the same line...ugh...

I'm not sure if Python works this way but it might be a good idea for language designers to sit down and think about an ideal "style" although subjective.

Listen to peoples complaints/arguments and weigh out the pros and cons of each style and incorporate that into the syntax of the language. Code beautifiers rarely work that well and I for one prefer consistency over anything else.

For now I just want Unicode support so I can continue developing my application. :P

Cheers,
Alex

Re: PHP 6 When?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 3:02 am
by Luke
Well, we're verging on WAY off topic, but I have to respond to a few of those.
PCSpectra wrote:As I understand it Python has a better OO model
I used to think that, but honestly, I'm starting to think that "the best OO model" is kind of a pipe dream. PHP's oo model is not as dynamic and doesn't have as many cool features as python, but I think it FITS its purpose extremely well. PHP was originally written as a way to do a little bit of pre-processing before outputting a WEB page. A very modest goal which (and I know I'm way oversimplifying) is still all it really does. Python was written as an all-purpose language. One of many many things people have used it for is to write web applications.

I think this is a fundamental reason why PHP is able to reach such a wide market. It is very easy to pick up, yet it is very powerful, and has just enough OO and advanced features to keep guys like me interested in it.
PCSpectra wrote:although just looking at some examples I dislike a lot of their syntax.
I hated it when I first learned it. It grows on you, trust me.
PCSpectra wrote:It doesn't appear to use {} braces for nesting. While not strictly bad practice what it does do is prevent my IDE from collapsing entire blocks of code to focus strictly on the problem at hand. Source code folding essentially, very handy feature.
You just need an editor that supports python. I use Komodo Edit.
PCSpectra wrote:I also dislike the 'elif' what the hell is that? :P
Yea, I have no argument for that one. That drives me nuts :(
PCSpectra wrote:I look at the code and wonder if perhaps it uses whitespace as a way of "bracing" code implicitly through tabs, etc...similar to some Linux config files (Postifx?).

While some might argue that is bad practice...in one way I would see that as a blessing in disguise as it would certainly stop people from writing code the way they want too...
Bingo. That was the intention. It was written that way to make people write sexy code. Every python file looks the same. It's wonderful.
PCSpectra wrote:1. Long lines always buckle when I print
When you print? :?
PCSpectra wrote:I for one prefer consistency over anything else.
Like I said, you can look at any python code, written by anybody and they will look exactly the same.

Re: PHP 6 When?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:59 am
by JAB Creations
PHP 6? Know what I think? :mrgreen:

After learning as much as I have what am I going to have to rewrite? :|

I presume not too much if anything...

Then I wonder what new spiffy stuff we'll get.

Then I remember it's not a browser so we won't get any CSS3 property support out of it. :(

Any one know of any really nifty stuff for say mid-level developers? :mrgreen:

Re: PHP 6 When?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 3:42 pm
by alex.barylski
I presume not too much if anything...
Depends...in all honesty each new release will try and depracate bad practices like those nasty $HTTP super globals...

While it kills some backwards compatibility it's probably best over all. :)

Re: PHP 6 When?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 4:05 pm
by onion2k
PCSpectra wrote:While it kills some backwards compatibility it's probably best over all. :)
Only if it's something a little unusual. Killing the old features that major open source apps use (OSCommerce, various forums, Wordpress, etc) will just stop ISPs upgrading because they'd end up killing their clients sites. That would definitely be bad.

Re: PHP 6 When?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 4:29 pm
by alex.barylski
Yes that is the cruz of the problem...PHP has an easy learning curve and high entry rate so anyone literally can begin hammering out an application (full of bad code or not).

Re: PHP 6 When?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 4:31 pm
by JAB Creations
:yar: