Going Dynamic with PHP

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Monday February 20, 2006 @06:06AM from the not-the-bastard-child-of-languages-anymore dept.

Five-Oh writes to tell us that IBM DeveloperWorks has an interesting article about the OO advantages of PHP V's new features. From the article: "PHP V5's new object-oriented programming features have raised the level of functionality in this popular language significantly. Learn how to use the dynamic features of PHP V5 to create objects that bend to fit your needs."

6 of 222 comments (clear)

PHP's Comeupance by (1+-sqrt(5))*(2**-1) · 2006-02-20 06:08 · Score: 5, Informative
I rediscovered PHP last week after a year-long hiatus, and was surpised to find that it approacheth Java in reflection and information hiding; that said, there are some lamentable lacunæ:
- Class constants must be string literals and only string literals (no variables, arrays or objects).
- Type-hinting is confined to arrays and objects (feature?).
The unadorned output of phpDocumentor, PHP's analog to JavaDoc, is also suboptimal; for documenting PHP, therefore, go Doxygen.
1. Re:PHP's Comeupance by Hal_Porter · 2006-02-20 07:45 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Dear (1+-sqrt(5))*(2**-1),
  
  I must say, Sir, that I salute you for your post. Not only is in Informative, it is also well drafted in the Queens English, not in the debased language of Internetland. Furthermore, you have managed to obtain the coveted pole position of posters, so to speak. As I write this epistle of congratulations, I shall drink a toast of finest port wine to you, and I wish that your correspondence with the world shall continue for all eternity.
  
  If I may be so bold as to trouble you with two requests, it would be these. Firstly, may I post a copy of your memorandum above the post to which I fasten my servants when I whip them for dumb insolence and/or sundry grammatical errors, including the splitting of infinitives or the use of the accursed Internet language? Secondly, my wife is expecting our first child, conceived soon after she spent a night in my servants quarters, teaching them virtue of prayer. Would it be presumptive of me to command her to name her baby (1+-sqrt(5))*(2**-1). We are unsure at present of the sex of the baby, since we have emigrated to the 19th Century to escape the linguistic slovenliness of the later epochs, but we feel that such a name would distinguish a child of either gender?
  
  Yours, etc
  Hal Porter, esq.
  
  --
  echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Experiences by truthsearch · 2006-02-20 06:19 · Score: 5, Interesting

It's a huge step forward for OO development in PHP.

BUT it's still got all the crud of PHP4. For those transitioning from PHP4 objects one great feature is the new warning when using the older style of classes. However all of those things people find quirky about PHP4 still exist. For example, now you can force a function parameter to be a certain type of object, but not a basic type. You still can't even fully overload a function.

My view is that it's two steps forward and one step back. They need to consider deprecating features and making a php.ini option to not allow the use of any deprecated features.

--
Developers: We can use your help.
Re:PHP 4 V. 5 by lbft · 2006-02-20 06:23 · Score: 5, Informative

There's a good summary on Zend: http://www.zend.com/php5/andi-book-excerpt.php

Basically, PHP 5 adds proper object support (think Java-style) including iterators for objects, and new extensions add good XML support, SOAP, SQLite, better MySQL support (prepared statements, OO interface, etc.)

I'd recommend reading Adam Trachtenberg's book Upgrading to PHP 5 if you're familiar with PHP 4.
OOP by onion2k · 2006-02-20 06:29 · Score: 5, Insightful

I'm a fan of using objects in the right place .. but to suggest they increase the functionality of a language is simply wrong. They allow for better (well, different) organisation of code, easier reuse, and improved encapsulation over procedural or functional coding styles, but they don't actually allow you to do anything that can't be done using any other approach. The functionality of the language remains the same.

--
http://twitter.com/onion2k
Re:If you're going to be this generic... by sammy+baby · 2006-02-20 07:14 · Score: 5, Funny

My issue with databases and all that is that they are not abstract enough. Either one must create a new table when one wishes to implement a new feature, or one must develop some extremely generic database that is hard to search.

Well, you could always create a single-table database. Call the single table "Stuff," put a generic autoincrementing key on it, and give it two more columns: a type identifier and a serialized object that contains all the data.

Of course, you could also stab yourself in the eye. Might be preferable.