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[Discussion][RFC Idea] Cast Variables by Reference

php.internals

Joseph Leedy

1 year ago
Hello, I'm Joseph, or Seph for short. I'm a long time listener, but a first-time caller. I've had an idea rattling around in my noggin for a while that I'd like your feedback on: As a developer, I would like to have variables of one type cast to another type automatically so that I do not need to assign the variable to itself. Instead of the following: ```php $price = '5.0123'; ... $price = (float) $price; var_dump($price); // Result: `float: 5.0123` ``` What if we could do this instead? ```php $price = '5.0123'; ... (float) $price; var_dump($price); // Result: `float: 5.0123` ``` If everyone thinks this a good idea, I would be willing to put together an RFC and work on the implementation myself, with guidance from an experienced core developer. I have no experience with C/C++, other than a brief foray more than twenty years ago, but I am willing to learn. Thank you for your consideration! Also, a huge thank you to everyone who has made PHP what it is today! (**Note**: No AI was used in the writing of this message.)

Rob Landers

1 year ago
On Mon, Jul 7, 2025, at 18:22, Joseph Leedy wrote:
> Hello, I'm Joseph, or Seph for short. I'm a long time listener, but a > first-time caller. I've had an idea rattling around in my noggin for a while > that I'd like your feedback on: > > As a developer, I would like to have variables of one type cast to another > type automatically so that I do not need to assign the variable to itself. > > Instead of the following: > > ```php > $price = '5.0123'; > ... > $price = (float) $price; > > var_dump($price); // Result: `float: 5.0123` > ``` > > What if we could do this instead? > > ```php > $price = '5.0123'; > ... > (float) $price; > > var_dump($price); // Result: `float: 5.0123` > ``` > > If everyone thinks this a good idea, I would be willing to put together an > RFC and work on the implementation myself, with guidance from an experienced > core developer. I have no experience with C/C++, other than a brief foray > more than twenty years ago, but I am willing to learn. > > Thank you for your consideration! Also, a huge thank you to everyone who > has made PHP what it is today! > > (**Note**: No AI was used in the writing of this message.) >
Hey Seph, This is basically how non-strict mode works; there's no need for a cast. (I very rarely use strict mode, so I was a little confused on why you'd ever want to do this) — Rob

Rob Landers

1 year ago
On Mon, Jul 7, 2025, at 18:41, Rob Landers wrote:
> > > On Mon, Jul 7, 2025, at 18:22, Joseph Leedy wrote: >> Hello, I'm Joseph, or Seph for short. I'm a long time listener, but a >> first-time caller. I've had an idea rattling around in my noggin for a while >> that I'd like your feedback on: >> >> As a developer, I would like to have variables of one type cast to another >> type automatically so that I do not need to assign the variable to itself. >> >> Instead of the following: >> >> ```php >> $price = '5.0123'; >> ... >> $price = (float) $price; >> >> var_dump($price); // Result: `float: 5.0123` >> ``` >> >> What if we could do this instead? >> >> ```php >> $price = '5.0123'; >> ... >> (float) $price; >> >> var_dump($price); // Result: `float: 5.0123` >> ``` >> >> If everyone thinks this a good idea, I would be willing to put together an >> RFC and work on the implementation myself, with guidance from an experienced >> core developer. I have no experience with C/C++, other than a brief foray >> more than twenty years ago, but I am willing to learn. >> >> Thank you for your consideration! Also, a huge thank you to everyone who >> has made PHP what it is today! >> >> (**Note**: No AI was used in the writing of this message.) >> > > Hey Seph, > > This is basically how non-strict mode works; there's no need for a cast. (I very rarely use strict mode, so I was a little confused on why you'd ever want to do this) > > — Rob
Aaaand, I just discovered ctrl-enter sends the email. But to continue on with what I was saying, casting is relatively dangerous (which is why I stay away from strict mode). https://3v4l.org/6VvWc#vnull vs. https://3v4l.org/1cQ9l#vnull — Rob

Alexandru Pătrănescu

1 year ago
On Mon, Jul 7, 2025 at 7:25 PM Joseph Leedy <joseph+php@josephleedy.dev> wrote:
> > As a developer, I would like to have variables of one type cast to another > type automatically so that I do not need to assign the variable to itself. > > > What if we could do this instead? > > ```php > $price = '5.0123'; > ... > (float) $price; > > var_dump($price); // Result: `float: 5.0123` > ``` > >
This is valid code now, and does not perform the cast. You need to use a slightly different syntax, maybe `(float)&$price;` that is an error now.
-- Alex

Joseph Leedy

1 year ago
On Mon, Jul 7, 2025, at 10:47, Alexandru Pătrănescu wrote:
> > You need to use a slightly different syntax, maybe `(float)&$price;` that is an error now.
Apologies; I missed the ampersand in my example solution.

Joseph Leedy

1 year ago
On Mon, Jul 7, 2025, at 10:46, Rob Landers wrote:
> This is basically how non-strict mode works; there's no need for a cast. (I very rarely > use strict mode, so I was a little confused on why you'd ever want to do this)
I always code in strict mode, so I find myself having to cast variables quite often.

Claude Pache

1 year ago
> Le 7 juil. 2025 à 18:22, Joseph Leedy <joseph+php@josephleedy.dev> a écrit : > > Hello, I'm Joseph, or Seph for short. I'm a long time listener, but a > first-time caller. I've had an idea rattling around in my noggin for a while > that I'd like your feedback on: > > As a developer, I would like to have variables of one type cast to another > type automatically so that I do not need to assign the variable to itself. > > Instead of the following: > > ```php > $price = '5.0123'; > ... > $price = (float) $price; > > var_dump($price); // Result: `float: 5.0123` > ``` > > What if we could do this instead? > > ```php > $price = '5.0123'; > ... > (float) $price; > > var_dump($price); // Result: `float: 5.0123` > ``` > > If everyone thinks this a good idea, I would be willing to put together an > RFC and work on the implementation myself, with guidance from an experienced > core developer. I have no experience with C/C++, other than a brief foray > more than twenty years ago, but I am willing to learn. > > Thank you for your consideration! Also, a huge thank you to everyone who > has made PHP what it is today! > > (**Note**: No AI was used in the writing of this message.)
Hi, There is already a built-in function for that very purpose, namely `settype()`, see: https://www.php.net/settype —Claude

Joseph Leedy

1 year ago
On Mon, Jul 7, 2025, at 11:54, Claude Pache wrote:
> Hi, > > There is already a built-in function for that very purpose, namely `settype()`, see: > > https://www.php.net/settype > > > —Claude
Thanks, Claude. Over twenty years of PHP development and I didn't know that function exists (or I forgot about it). TIL! Still, this function seems clunkier than a straight cast would be.