[furicane]

I often run into this argument - "inconsistent syntax", followed by zero proof. Then I wonder - is the person making the comment even using PHP or is the person behind the comment.. even capable programmer?

Yes, PHP has been "cleaned up" and you have always had the option to use clean, concise way of coding without language interfering or hindering you in any way.

There's no programming language out there that makes up for the sloppiness and inability of the person behind the screen.

[unethical_ban]

Back in the PHP 3/4 days, a lot of related functions would have different argument orders.

str_replace(old, new) vs. stri_replace(new, old) kind of thing.