On Tue, Oct 17, 2023 at 11:15 AM Robert Landers <landers.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 17, 2023 at 11:10 AM Levi Morrison via internals > <internals@lists.php.net> wrote: > > How is returning null any different than $array[0] on an empty array? > https://3v4l.org/ <https://3v4l.org/K3gRs>> > > c) Two such functions were proposed and rejected during the > > array_key_first/last RFC > > (https://wiki.php.net/rfc/array_key_first_last) > > > > Yes, that was in 2018. At that time, functions like str_contains() or > > str_starts_with() wouldn't have even come into existence, just because > > there was an obscure way to do it without them. I believe we've moved > > on since then. Today we know how useful it is to use simple, > > easy-to-understand methods, both for programmers who write and read > > the code. > > It's true that sentiment may have shifted in this time. However, a > common argument at that time still stands: `null` is not a good > sentintenal for failure because the value inside the array very well > could have been null. This is not true for the keys. For me > personally, I think I would still vote no. I'm not entirely sure about > that, but that's how I would lean right now. > > As it stands, you'd have to write code along the lines of: > > ```php > $key = \array_key_first($array); > if ($key === null) { > // handle the failure > } else { > // success > $value = $array[$key]; > } > ``` > > Yes, it would be slightly nicer if we could do: > > ```php > $value = \array_first($array); > if ($value === null) { > // handle the failure > } else { > // success > } > ``` > > But I fear in practice people will just omit the error checking. > > One way around that is to throw an exception. I'm not sure how I feel > about that, but I'll think about it. > > -- > PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List > To unsubscribe, visit: https://www.php.net/unsub.php > >K3gRs <https://3v4l.org/K3gRs> > > Currently, it just outputs a warning, but the result is `null`. > > -- > PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List > To unsubscribe, visit: https://www.php.net/unsub.php > > I'm okay with `null` being given back as it's the current behavior of accessing the key as well, which is often checked through `$array[0] ?? null`. Something like an `undefined` type could solve this problem, but personally not a fan of this in Javascript. Maybe `array_has_first` or something could be made, but honestly I would still just check for `null` myself most likely.
