> there’s still no reasonable int parsing function!
Well, I suppose it depends on how one defines “reasonable”, and perhaps how one defines “parsing” (e.g., what is it you’re trying to do). As a comment elsewhere observed, while
(int)$val;
will force a non-integer $val to be 0, if what you’re trying to do is determine whether $val is a string literal that represents an integer, you can use
filter($val, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT);
instead. That will return the integer if it is, and false (actual boolean false) if it isn’t.
Is this the best way to do it? Probably not. But I think I’m okay with testing that filter in an if statement rather than wrapping the type casting in a try/catch block.
However:
> I'm not against change, but PHP devs should decide if they want to make code maintenance easier, or make PHP an actually good language. Right now, it's in a weird in-between state. I'm not a fan of coming across old PHP code and having to make a bunch of small changes to port it to supported PHP.
If the dichotomy you pose in the first part is correct, then “coming across old PHP code and having to make small changes” is unavoidable if they’re striving for the latter. Given that they’re clearly not down for making radical changes that break everything everywhere all at once, then it’s going to be in a “weird in-between state” for years, isn’t it?
Well, I suppose it depends on how one defines “reasonable”, and perhaps how one defines “parsing” (e.g., what is it you’re trying to do). As a comment elsewhere observed, while
will force a non-integer $val to be 0, if what you’re trying to do is determine whether $val is a string literal that represents an integer, you can use instead. That will return the integer if it is, and false (actual boolean false) if it isn’t.Is this the best way to do it? Probably not. But I think I’m okay with testing that filter in an if statement rather than wrapping the type casting in a try/catch block.
However:
> I'm not against change, but PHP devs should decide if they want to make code maintenance easier, or make PHP an actually good language. Right now, it's in a weird in-between state. I'm not a fan of coming across old PHP code and having to make a bunch of small changes to port it to supported PHP.
If the dichotomy you pose in the first part is correct, then “coming across old PHP code and having to make small changes” is unavoidable if they’re striving for the latter. Given that they’re clearly not down for making radical changes that break everything everywhere all at once, then it’s going to be in a “weird in-between state” for years, isn’t it?