Named Arguments in PHP

Question

In C#, there is a new feature coming with 4.0 called Named Arguments and get along well with Optional Parameters.

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Answer 1

As you found out, named arguments don't exist in PHP.

But one possible solution would be to use one array as unique parameter -- as array items can be named :

my_function(array(
    'my_param' => 10, 
    'other_param' => 'hello, world!', 
));

And, in your function, you'd read data from that unique array parameter :

function my_function(array $params) {

    // test if $params['my_param'] is set ; and use it if it is
    // test if $params['other_param'] is set ; and use it if it is
    // test if $params['yet_another_param'] is set ; and use it if it is
    // ...

}

Still, there is one major inconvenient with this idea : looking at your function's definition, people will have no idea what parameters it expects / they can pass.

They will have to go read the documentation each time they want to call your function -- which is not something one loves to do, is it ?

Additionnal note : IDEs won't be able to provide hints either ; and phpdoc will be broken too...