On Sunday 05 April 2026 11:43:03 (+02:00), Barel wrote:
> On Sun, 5 Apr 2026 at 10:13, Hans Krentel <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >
> > On Saturday 04 April 2026 16:06:21 (+02:00), Barel wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I would like to open the discussion on my proposal to add two small,
> > > focused array functions for retrieving and checking nested array elements
> > > using dot notation.
> > >
> > > This is the link to the RFC:
> > > https://wiki.php.net/rfc/array_get_and_array_has
> > >
> > > This is the link to the proposed implementation:
> > > https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/21637
> > >
> > > Thanks!!
> >
> > Thank you very much! That’s very interesting, so I have to ask right away:
> > Is there a specific reason to limit this to strings, integers, and null for
> > arrays, rather than also allowing arrays or iterables?
> >
> > This reminds me of JSON Pointers (RFC 6901), which can usually be easily
> > mapped as an iterable with string keys, which can then be accessed via the
> > holder variable, similar to the foreach example you already describe in
> > your RFC.
> >
> > If these two functions supported passing an array/iterable with the
> > traversal keys as a second parameter, this would be advantageous, since the
> > JSON pointer would then not need to be recoded into dot notation, but only
> > (if not already done) sliced and passed as an array as the second parameter.
> >
> > That's why I'm asking.
> >
> > Interestingly, JSON Pointer solves the “null problem” by prefixing the
> > zero or more reference tokens (keys) with a slash ‘/’, and it supports all
> > seven types of JSON values without limiting itself to just JSON arrays or
> > objects. This is just food for thought: array_... are clearly array
> > functions, so this “restriction” is likely intentional. In PHP, however, I
> > can also imagine iterables that resemble what you’ve already described in
> > your RFC, and from there it’s not far to the holder object we see in JSON
> > and JSON Pointer. So please don’t confuse my “request” regarding
> > arrays/iterables with the first parameter; it’s simply about passing the
> > key as a keys, which is a small improvement over dot notation.
> >
> > With arrays in PHP, users will likely prefer the non-standard, more custom
> > dot notation, and that’s perfectly fine. I saw many people asking for this
> > in the early days of Stack Overflow, and if Symfony/Laravel have it as
> > well, that’s just another strong indication of such a preference.
> >
> > Thanks again for your RFC
> >
> >
> > --hakre
> >
> > P.S. Work on the RFC documentation for JSON Path finally began in 2020,
> > and it was published in February 2024. The standard has its roots in PHP
> > and JavaScript, and perhaps it’s time for PHP to expand its standard
> > library with such features at the same pace we did with JSON. Your RFC
> > seems well-suited for this purpose. Thanks again.
> >
>
> Thanks for your comments. Someone else already suggested allowing arrays
> for the $key parameter and I am considering it, I think it will probably be
> a good addition
Yes, I agree, and I suggest we also consider _iterable_ as part of this
discussion.
Thank you Carlos as well for your work on these functions.
--hakre
