Comments on: PHP pains http://jfxpt.com/2022/php-pains/ The search for invariants Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:41:44 +0000 http://polimedia.us hourly 1 By: Jacob Welsh http://jfxpt.com/2022/php-pains/#comment-2645 Jacob Welsh Fri, 29 Mar 2024 18:56:39 +0000 http://fixpoint.welshcomputing.com/?p=179#comment-2645 There was a "direct IO" but it was removed in 5.1.0 because "In all other cases, the standard filesystem functions are more than adequate." The interactive shell mode (php -a) doesn't work, even when built with readline support (as confirmed by php -m). There was a "direct IO" but it was removed in 5.1.0 because "In all other cases, the standard filesystem functions are more than adequate."

The interactive shell mode (php -a) doesn't work, even when built with readline support (as confirmed by php -m).

]]> By: Jacob Welsh http://jfxpt.com/2022/php-pains/#comment-2644 Jacob Welsh Fri, 29 Mar 2024 18:43:06 +0000 http://fixpoint.welshcomputing.com/?p=179#comment-2644 A <a href="http://jfxpt.com/library/php5-manual/function.stream-set-write-buffer.html" rel="nofollow">nice example</a> of the "manual" talking straight nonsense: <blockquote>If buffer is 0 then write operations are unbuffered. This ensures that all writes with fwrite() are completed before other processes are allowed to write to that output stream.</blockquote> Otherwise, some things that we learn can't be done reliably in php: <ul><li>Getting random bytes from the OS (random_bytes requires v7)</li> <li>Opening a file such as /dev/urandom without buffering (the 'read' counterpart to the above requires v5.3.3)</li> <li>Opening a file at all (thanks fopenwrappers)</li> <li>Getting the length of a string (thanks mbstring.func_overload)</li> <li>Creating a new session (i.e. new identifier) without touching any that might exist at the current identifier</li> <li>Loading a session if one exists, without creating a new one</li> </ul> Basically, you're required to think like a monkey in order to get anything done here. A nice example of the "manual" talking straight nonsense:

If buffer is 0 then write operations are unbuffered. This ensures that all writes with fwrite() are completed before other processes are allowed to write to that output stream.

Otherwise, some things that we learn can't be done reliably in php:

  • Getting random bytes from the OS (random_bytes requires v7)
  • Opening a file such as /dev/urandom without buffering (the 'read' counterpart to the above requires v5.3.3)
  • Opening a file at all (thanks fopenwrappers)
  • Getting the length of a string (thanks mbstring.func_overload)
  • Creating a new session (i.e. new identifier) without touching any that might exist at the current identifier
  • Loading a session if one exists, without creating a new one

Basically, you're required to think like a monkey in order to get anything done here.

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