> From: Andrew Brampton [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 2:16 PM
> Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Feature Request: Auto Include a Function
>
>
> I'm not a PHP Developer but I see a few problems with this.
I'm not a PHP Developer either, but I use it 12 hours a day in my work.
> Since a PHP script is re-evaluated/"compiled" on each
> execution it would
> mean PHP would have to look through all your .php files for
> this file. This
> could be very time consuming, espically since it has to do it every
> execution.
If a hash file were used it would only have to "search" for the function
once, and even then only in the functions directory (like the include
directory, but specifically for functions). After that the order would
be:
1) Execute the function
2) If the function doesn't exist check the hash file and include it
3) If it's not in the hash file search for it, include it, then hash it
4) If it can't be found issue an error message
If there we're no subdirectories there would be no more overhead than
for a file_exists() call.
> Also what happens if you spell a function wrong, OR it finds
> 2 functions
> with the same name in different .php files.
If you spell a function wrong it isn't going to work either way, and I
think it's a good idea to have your function names be unique within a
give site.
> I don't think its got any real advantage over the fact that
> it just lets you
> be lazy. It wouldn't be any quicker in any way.
One mans laziness is another mans efficiency. If we were after 100%
performance we'd all be programming in machine lanquage. But that fact
is I personally use PHP over other solutions because it's easier to
develop in.
Given the chance I'll sacrifice a little (in this case very little)
performance to speed up and simplify development. At $50 an hour and 8
hours per day, ~my~ CPU cycles are worth $8,000 per month. I pay $100 a
month for a server with the majority of CPU cycles going to waste.
Personally I'd rather optimize the $8,000 rather than the $100.
Not everyone is in my shoes, but adding this won't effect them. The
little bit of overhead to automatically include functions is ONLY
incurred if the function isn't included to begin with. So existing
scripts and programming styles won't be affected at all.
But I think it would simplify things a LOT on a big site with lots of
functions.
> If this was a compilable language then sure it would of been
> nice, like C
> does searching through .h files, but since its not I don't
> think its a good
> idea.
>
> Andrew
Thanks for the reply!
Brian
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Brian T. Allen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 8:21 PM
> Subject: [PHP-DEV] Feature Request: Auto Include a Function
>
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > Please accept my apologies in advance if this is not the
> correct place
> > for this request.
> >
> > This may exist, but I haven't been able to find it, and I
> think it would
> > be REALLY helpful and convenient.
> >
> > The idea is this:
> >
> > When you write a script and call a function:
> >
> > <?php
> >
> > $whatever = previously_uncalled_function("one","two");
> >
> > ?>
> >
> > PHP could automatically look for a file named
> > "previously_uncalled_function" in your /include/functions/
> (or whatever)
> > directory.
> >
> > This would eliminate a LOT of include() and require() calls
> (or at least
> > make them automatic) in a script. The function would only
> get read in
> > if it was used. Functions could still be explicitly included or
> > required as they currently are.
> >
> > I *think* the overhead would be about the same as the
> initial include()
> > or require() call would have been.
> >
> > This would be very convenient. When you create a new
> function you drop
> > it in that directory (with a very specific, unique name, of
> course), and
> > it can immediately be called anywhere in the site. And,
> you only incur
> > the disk IO to read it when its used for the first time in a script.
> >
> > The 3 things I want to avoid are:
> >
> > 1) Explicitly including every function, every time it's needed.
> > 2) Disk IO of including a function when it's not needed.
> > 3) Taking the easy route and including a file with a bunch
> of functions
> > when most won't get called.
> >
> > Does this already exist, or is this a good idea (if not, any reasons
> > why)? I personally would love to see it implemented if it isn't
> > already.
> >
> > One possibility for implementation is just prior to the "undeclared
> > function" error message, try to auto include the function prior to
> > generating the error message.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Brian Allen
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > PHP Development Mailing List <http://www.php.net/>
> > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
> >
> >
>
>
>
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