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Request #61126 associative array syntax
Submitted: 2012-02-17 17:54 UTC Modified: 2012-02-22 07:10 UTC
From: cornelius dot howl at gmail dot com Assigned:
Status: Not a bug Package: *General Issues
PHP Version: 5.4.0RC7 OS: Any
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
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 [2012-02-17 17:54 UTC] cornelius dot howl at gmail dot com 
Description:
------------
When using undefined $args['method'] this should not throw an error, instead, it 
should return undef or null.

In Perl or Ruby, Python, we usually write:

   $value = $hash{key} || 'default value';

But in PHP, we have to write such code, that's such inefficient:

   $value = isset($hash['key']) ? $hash['key'] : 'default';

Yes, we can use '@', but the '@' makes PHP runs more slower.

It will be better if we can have the following syntax:

   $value = $hash['key'] || 'default value';

so that if you have multiple hashes:

   $value = $hash['key'] || $hash2['key'] || $hash3['key'] || 'last value';

then we don't have to write:

   $value = isset($hash['key']) ? $hash['key'] : isset($hash2['key']) ? 
$hash2['key'] : $hash2['key'] ........ # whatever



Thanks

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 [2012-02-18 11:45 UTC] nikic@php.net
-Status: Open +Status: Not a bug
 [2012-02-18 11:45 UTC] nikic@php.net 
Thank you for taking the time to write to us, but this is not
a bug. Please double-check the documentation available at
http://www.php.net/manual/ and the instructions on how to report
a bug at http://bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php

You access an undefined index so you obviously get a notice, nothing will change about that.

If you want, you can define a function like

    function getWithDefault(&$var, $default = null) {
        return isset($var) ? $var : $default;
    }
    $abc = getWithDefault($def['abc'], 'ghi');
 [2012-02-22 06:44 UTC] cornelius dot howl at gmail dot com 
Making new function to handle undefined key makes code slow. function call is 
really slow in PHP, and wrapping with a function makes code ugly.

I mean, an undefined hash should throw an error or notice (the behavior is right).

but when using an undefined key from a defined hash, PHP should not throw an 
error.
 [2012-02-22 07:10 UTC] rasmus@php.net 
People are just as apt to make mistakes in key names as they are in hash names.

$_SERVER['REQUEST_URL'] when you meant to check $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], for 
example. So I don't agree there is no value in a notice on trying to access an 
array element that hasn't been defined.

I don't disagree with the notion of having a clean operator that you can use 
explicitly on undefined array elements. We have a number of functions that are 
specifically aimed at these. This is a valid feature request.
 [2012-02-22 07:10 UTC] rasmus@php.net
-Type: Bug +Type: Feature/Change Request
 
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