Re: [PHP-DEV] [RFC] Deprecations for PHP 8.6

On 02.07.26 11:51, Seifeddine Gmati wrote:
>> `array_destruct()` that would address the readability argument (which is
>> hard to discuss away because it is hyper subjective).
> This can't work, and not for stylistic reasons. Destructuring happens
> in a *write* context: the construct sits on the left of `=` and
> receives bindings. A function can't do that. `array_destruct($a, $b) =
> $arr` isn't expressible, functions return values, they don't accept
> assignment targets. So a function couldn't replace `list()`; you'd
> need a new *construct* to stand in for it, which means adding grammar
> rather than removing it. That's the opposite of what the RFC is trying
> to do. This is also the crux of the readability point, I think:
> `list()` looks like a function precisely because of the parentheses,
> but it isn't one, and that mismatch is part of what makes the name
> misleading in the first place.


Fair enough. I had no idea it couldn't be done.
Agreed that adding another language construct doesn't make sense; only 
the naming isn't enough.