PHP :: Request #64871 :: The ::class operator should verify the class name

Request #64871	The ::class operator should verify the class name
Submitted:	2013-05-17 16:48 UTC	Modified:	2013-05-17 22:15 UTC
From:	vrana@php.net	Assigned:	ralphschindler (profile)
Status:	Wont fix	Package:	Class/Object related
PHP Version:	5.5.0RC1	OS:	Any
Private report:	No	CVE-ID:	None

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[2013-05-17 16:48 UTC] vrana@php.net

Description:
------------
One of the main advantages of the ::class operator could be that it verifies the class name upon creating the string instead of upon usage. It should trigger autoloading if the class doesn't exist.

I know that it's somewhat late to change this in PHP 5.5 but I was really surprised by the lack of this feature and about the fact that it wasn't considered in RFC.


Test script:
---------------
<?php
// I want to know about this typo.
echo stdClas::class;


Expected result:
----------------
Fatal error: Class 'stdClas' not found

Actual result:
--------------
stdClas

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[2013-05-17 16:49 UTC] vrana@php.net

-Assigned To: +Assigned To: ralphschindler

[2013-05-17 16:49 UTC] vrana@php.net

Ralph, what's your take on this?

[2013-05-17 17:16 UTC] ralphschindler@php.net

I believe this came up, and I wouldn't support this.  This would be inconsistent with the current implementation of namespaces.  use Foo\Bar\Baz; for example, does not check the existence of Baz on "use".  It is not not till a type is used (either statically called or used to create a new instance of via new) that it will trigger autoloading (if there is one).

There are many places in PHP where type names are used, method signatures, and even in the following example:

$x = new stdClass;
var_dump($x instanceof FooBar);

PHP will not attempt to autoload FooBar to for the purposes of instanceof.

If you need to know that a particular type exists, class_exists(foo::class, true); should do what you need.

If you feel differently, I think you should bring this up on the internals mailing list.

[2013-05-17 17:16 UTC] ralphschindler@php.net

-Status: Assigned +Status: Wont fix

[2013-05-17 18:23 UTC] vrana@php.net

Makes sense, thanks for the explanation.

[2013-05-17 18:34 UTC] David at grudl dot com

Ralph, totally agree. What do you think about fixing type hint "callable" to not 
trigger autoloading?

[2013-05-17 20:13 UTC] ralphschindler@php.net

David,
I am not sure what behavior you're referencing.  When does callable trigger autoload?  Perhaps this is a conversation for the internals mailing list?

[2013-05-17 22:15 UTC] vrana@php.net

Ralph, David is referring to https://bugs.php.net/61467. I agree that this is not the best place for the discussion about that.

[2015-08-12 09:34 UTC] jan dot kahoun at heureka dot cz

I think, that this is not expected behaviour for many developers. You should documented it at http://php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.basic.php#language.oop5.basic.class.class

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