Re: [PHP3] Re: [PHP Template] Re: [PHP3] PHP Template Engine spec revision 0.52

Zeev Suraski writes:
> If your designers love the ability to write conditionals in their
> templates, which essentially means they're coding, they should truly learn
> the PHP syntax.  Introducing a whole new syntax inside PHP just because
> your designers don't like PHP's syntax is a bad thing, regardless of
> whether that syntax goes directly to the scripting engine (which as you
> said, we don't want to change) or to a slightly higher level position.
> 
> I would really like to hear from people whether they think I'm just being
> 'paranoid' about introducing a complete new syntax set for PHP being a bad
> thing.  If my thoughts are correct, then this discussion does belong here,
> because as I said, in a year's time or so, it'll affect every single PHP
> developer out there.
> 
> Zeev

FWIW, I tend to agree with this side of the debate. Although I can
totally see Andrei's point, PHP control structure syntax is not IMHO
so convoluted as to be unlearnable. Even for designers. :) Now,
designers may not want to learn the whole language, but they're not
any less capable of throwing in the odd PHP-style if() than anybody
else.

I think that perhaps another danger here has less to do with people
not understanding the syntax of the PHP-style coding as opposed to the
proposed template code, than it has to do with them not fully
comprehending the implications of the logic they implement with it.

Besides, it seems to me that since one of the main reasons for
templating is separation of logic and presentation, introducing logic
into the presentation would in fact weaken the structure as a whole.

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|Torben Wilson <[email protected]>                     Netmill iTech|
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