PHP 5.3, along with many other features, introduced closures. So now we can finally do all the cool stuff that Ruby / Groovy / Scala / any_modern_language guys can do, right? Well, we can, but we probably won't... Here's why.

He compares the PHP syntax for using closures/lambda functions with the abilities of Groovy and Scala. He does point out out that the ArrayObject wrapper does allow you to work a bit more fluently with the array's contents, but it's still not quite the same. According to him:

I'm sure closures will find their uses in the PHP world (like delayed execution or automated resource management), but IMHO replacing traditional loops and array operations is not one of them.

Up until recently the PHP runtime was treating Groovy code just the same as Java. Anyone could compile a Groovy class to Java class files using the Groovy compiler. Those class files could then be dropped into a Zero application and used in PHP through the PHP/Java Bridge. The problem is that Groovy isn't the same as Java.

He compares the way its works when its Java-esque and how it should work as combined with the Groovy bridge. The code is much cleaner and, by making it more readable, makes it easier to maintain in the future. You can see some slides from a presentation hes given on the subject here.

I remember when PHP5 first came out having 'discussions' with a number of people who insisted that PHP5 was way better than 4. [...] Basically, intentions were made clearer with things like "public protected private" (PPP),but I have not yet seen any web project get done faster or dare I say even much *better* due to those sorts of things. [...] This isn't specifically saying PPP is necessarily bad, but that PHP could have addressed the issue in a fashion more suitable to dynamic languages. Keep reading for an example.

His comparison is to how Groovy handles properties in a class - everything is private unless declared otherwise. This could be ported (somewhat) over to PHP and would eliminate the need to search&replace all over the code for the right variables.

I've put up the latest installment in my "Grails for PHP developers". Rather than delve too much more in to Grails head on, I'm taking this installment (and at least the next one) to delve more in to the Groovy language itself. Groovy offers similarities to PHP, but also many differences which can trip you up if you're not careful. I'll try to lay those out as best I can in the next couple of installments.

This new part of the series goes back and puts the spotlight on GRoovy, the base of the Groovy/Grails combo. He talks about working with variables and arrays as containers for multiple pieces of data and some possible gotchas that could come up along the way.