While every developer has kind of accepted their existence, they are suddenly there when we'd desperately need them to not show up. How often did you writeif($obj === null) in your PHP code? Can't there be a better, more elegant and fault-tolerant solution to the problem?

His solution is to create a PHP version of this "Optional" functionality (via an abstract class) that allows some evaluation of the returned value from method calls on the object. Methods like "isPresent", "getOrElse", "of" and "fromNullable" make it easier to work with null values instead of just the triple-equals checking. He includes not only the code for the classes you'll need to implement it but examples of it in use - an "Optional" abstract class and two child classes, "Present" and "Absent".

From the Gartner post:

I just published a research note on PHP. Clients can find it here. The research note goes into *much* more detail but the overview is [in the rest of the post]. Keep in mind that this content is targeted at mainstream IT organizations. PHP has been a cornerstone technology on the Web for more than a decade. While its adoption among mainstream IT organizations has been limited in the past, many corporate application development (AD) projects are discovering the unique benefits of PHP.

Danne highlights two quotes that were of particular interest in the report - one from the quote above about PHP being a cornerstone of many corporate web application development and the other talking about PHP's role not just in backend application development but also it being useful in front-end toolsets too.

As the PHP community grows however, it becomes harder and harder for people to come together from the various corners of the community. [...] That being said, maybe there is still something we could change for the better? PHP contributor Lukas Smith has formulated his vision for such an effort in the form of an organization that would serve as a mediator and catalyst between all the members of the PHP community under the code name emPHPower.

The session will be happening on Monday the 21st from 7-8pm.

From the article "":

I think, to most people, scripting is a lot like obscenity. I can't define it, but I'll know it when I see it. [...] If I had to pick one metaphor, it'd be easy onramps. And a slow lane. Maybe even with some optional fast lanes.