Re: [PHP] Operator for functions

On Mon, Dec 19, 2016 at 3:22 PM, Sam Hobbs <[email protected]> wrote:

> What is the "->" operator for functions called?
>
> At the bottom of PHP: Operators - Manual <http://php.net/manual/en/lang
> uage.operators.php> (http://php.net/manual/en/language.operators.php) is
> the note:
>
> "The -> operator, not listed above, is called "object operator"
> (T_OBJECT_OPERATOR)."
>
> It has been down-voted 81 times. Is that because the operator is not
> called the "object operator"? Or is it because the note says that the
> operator is not listed?
>
> I apologize if my criticism is not appropriate, but the operator is not
> properly documented. The "->" operator should be listed among the other PHP
> operators and there should be documentation of it.
>
> The C++ standard calls the "." and "->" operators the "dot" and "arrow"
> operators, correspondingly. For example, see "5.2.4 Pseudo destructor call"
> in:
> http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2014/n4296.pdf
> That is the latest draft of the newest C++ standard.
>
> PHP can call its "->" operator whatever the designers decide, but there
> should be a definition to eliminate the confusion of different names
> depending on personal preference. A book I am reading calls the operator
> the "arrow operator". Is it called the object operator (as implied by the
> tag) or the arrow operator or something else?
>

There is a difference between a token and an operator, I think people
usually confuse the two. The -> is a parser token, indeed called the
T_OBJECT_OPERATOR (not sure why that comment was downvoted).

Here is a complete list of PHP's parser tokens:

http://php.net/manual/en/tokens.php