195 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
195 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
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# Welcome
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Welcome to the documentation of the THP programming languague.
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THP is a new programming language that compiles to PHP.
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<br>
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This page discusses some of the design decitions of the language,
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if you want to install THP go to the [installation guide](/installation-guide)
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If you want to learn the language, go to the learn section.
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## Goals
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- Bring static typing to PHP: Not just type hints, not just `mixed` for everything
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that isn't a primitive type.
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- Generics & ADTs
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- Avoid implicit type conversion.
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- Remove the inconsistencies in the language.
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- Organize the stdlib into modules.
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- Differentiate between Arrays, Tuples, Maps and Sets.
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- Create a **consistent** language.
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- Have typings for popular libraries (like TS's `.d.ts`).
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- Have a simple instalation and configuration (requiring just Composer).
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- Ship a fast, native binary (written in Rust) (why use PHP when we can go **_blazingly fast_**?).
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- Support in-place compilation.
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- (Try to) emit readable PHP.
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- Implement an LSP server.
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- Implement a formatter.
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## Not goals
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These are **not** aspects that THP looks to solve or implement.
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- Be what TypeScript is for JavaScript (PHP with types).
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- Use PHP syntax/conventions.
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- Be familiar for PHP developers.
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## Philosophy
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- Consistency over familiarity
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- Change over conventions
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- Explicit over implicit
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## Some differences with PHP
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```thp
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// PHP
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$has_key = str_contains($haystack, 'needle');
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// THP
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val has_key = haystack.contains("needle")
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```
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- Explicit variable declaration
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- No `$` for variable names (and thus no `$$variable`)
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- No semicolons
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- Use methods on common datatypes
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- Strings use only double quotes
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---
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```thp
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// PHP
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[
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'names' => ['Toni', 'Stark'],
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'age' => 33,
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'numbers' => [32, 64, 128]
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]
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// THP
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.{
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names: #("Toni", "Stark"), // Tuple
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age: 33,
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numbers: [32, 64, 128]
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}
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```
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- Tuples, Arrays, Sets, Maps are clearly different
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- JSON-like object syntax
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---
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```thp
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// PHP
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$cat = new Cat("Michifu", 7);
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$cat->meow();
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// THP
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val cat = Cat("Michifu", 7)
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cat.meow();
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```
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- No `new` for classes
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- Use dot `.` instead of arrow `->` syntax
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---
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```thp
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// PHP
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use \Some\Deeply\Nested\Class
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use \Some\Deeply\Nested\Interface
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// THP
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use Some::Deeply::Nested::{Class, Interface}
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```
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- Different module syntax
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- Explicit module declaration
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- PSR-4 required
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- No `include`, `include_once`, `require` or `require_once`
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---
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Other things:
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- Pattern matching
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- ADTs
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## Runtime changes
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Where possible THP will compile to available PHP functions/classes/methods/etc.
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For example:
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```thp
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// This expression
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val greeting =
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match get_person()
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| Some(person) if person.age > 18
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{
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"Welcome, {person.name}"
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}
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| Some(person)
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{
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"I'm sorry {person.name}, you need to be 18 or older"
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}
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| None
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{
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"Nobody is here"
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}
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// Would compile to:
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$greeting = null;
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$_person = get_person();
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if ($_person !== null) {
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if ($_person["age"] > 18) {
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$greeting = "Welcome, " . $_person["name"];
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}
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else {
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$greeting = "I'm sorry " . $_person["name"] . ", you need to be 18 or older";
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}
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}
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else {
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$greeting = "Nobody is here";
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}
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```
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However, more advanced datatypes & helper functions will require a sort of
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runtime (new classes/functions/etc) or abuse the language's syntax/semantics.
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```thp
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// TBD: Enum compilation
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enum IpAddress {
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V4(String),
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V6(String),
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}
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val ip_1 = IpAddress::V4("255.255.0.0")
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// Would possibly compile to:
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enum IpAddress {
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V4,
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V6,
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}
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$ip_1 = [IpAddress::V4, "255.255.0.0"]
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```
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Such changes will be documented
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