[Too]

Since you are working with dynamic language, step 2 should include adding type annotations or whatever they are called in php. Specifying stricter types makes refactoring much easier.

[maxxxxx]

Agreed. Adding type annotations is already a huge refactor in itself though and pretty risky with PHP. Once you have that done life will be much easier.

[mdaniel]

For those unfamiliar with php, or its type annotations, why is adding type annotations a risky step? Do they become enforcing?

    function foo(string $bar) { ... }
    foo(1234) // kaboom?

[w0rd-driven]

Yeah pretty much. It's risky because type checking produces fatal errors that aren't always easy to trap properly. You don't realize how much a code base relies on PHPs type coercion until you add annotations and watch it blow up, in often subtle ways.

[maxxxxx]

"Subtle" is the keyword here.

[maxxxxx]

I think your code will work because 1234 can be converted to a string. I think the trouble starts once you pass around objects.

[w0rd-driven]

It actually doesn't according to http://sandbox.onlinephpfunctions.com/code/8804b49c23d620228..., though different PHP versions could produce different results.

[maxxxxx]

This works with PHP 7

<?php //Enter your code here, enjoy!

function foo(string $bar) { return $bar . $bar; }

echo foo(1234);

[Too]

Wait? You mean you get runtime errors? That's well...good in a way but as you say dangerous on old code.

To get the true benefits of typing you should also run a static type analyzer.

[maxxxxx]

Are there any for PHP?