TalkPHP - View Single Post

xenon · 05-25-2008, 11:55 AM

Type casting is not made so you can 'transform' strings into integers, arrays, objects, and so on. It's made so you can ENFORCE a certain data type. Its only use is that you can make sure you're getting a certain data type, so you can perform a certain operation. See the example:

PHP Code:


			
function sum_ints($a, $b)

{

    $a = (int) $a;

    $b = (int) $b;



    return $a+$b;

}

It's obvious that the sum function can't be used on strings, so that's why we use type casting, so we can enforce the parameters to be integers. If non-integer values are passed in, the function will simply return 0 instead of crashing if you pass in objects as parameters, therefore not breaking application flow. Operator overloading would come useful in here, but that's another problem.

05-25-2008, 11:55 AM	#5 (permalink)
xenon The Frequenter Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bucharest, Romania Posts: 438 Thanks: 3	Type casting is not made so you can 'transform' strings into integers, arrays, objects, and so on. It's made so you can ENFORCE a certain data type. Its only use is that you can make sure you're getting a certain data type, so you can perform a certain operation. See the example: PHP Code: `function sum_ints($a, $b) { $a = (int) $a; $b = (int) $b; return $a+$b; }` It's obvious that the sum function can't be used on strings, so that's why we use type casting, so we can enforce the parameters to be integers. If non-integer values are passed in, the function will simply return 0 instead of crashing if you pass in objects as parameters, therefore not breaking application flow. Operator overloading would come useful in here, but that's another problem. __________________ I have optimistic thoughts, even though sometimes (if not always) life's a bitch.