Friday Preview

[Daniel Brown <danbrown@xxxxxxx>]

    Hey, folks;

    To try to boost a bit of creative thinking and increase list
traffic a bit, let's reach back into the past this Friday and bring
back an oldie-but-goodie:

        PHP Brainteasers

    The old-heads on the list may remember how, a few years ago, we
had a rather long group of threads where we would express common
phrases (in English --- sorry to the non-native-speakers) in PHP code.
 For those who weren't around or don't recall, here's a very, very
basic example:

<?php
        class proverb {

            var $amount;

            function give() {
                return ++$this->amount;
            }

            function receive() {
                return --$this->amount;
            }

            function steal() {
                return $this->amount = 0;
            }

            function tally() {
                return $this->amount;
            }

            function proverb($amount) {
                $this->amount = $amount;
            }
        }

        $p = new proverb(5);

        if ($p->give() > $p->receive()) {
            echo '\'Tis.'.PHP_EOL;
        } else {
            echo 'Give me '.$p->amount.'.'.PHP_EOL;
        }
?>

    Here are the details:

        1.) While it doesn't have to "do" anything necessarily, it
must compile without ANY errors, warnings, or variable notices (other
notices, such as timezone settings, are okay).
        2.) It can be for any version of PHP5 --- legacy code for PHP
< 5.0.0 is not eligible.
        3.) Feel free to use little-known functions, variable
declaration/modification techniques, et cetera.
        4.) Obfuscation does not always count as a brainteaser.
        5.) You may use variable and function names as hints.
        6.) Try to employ at least the basics of code standards and
best practices that should be common sense to all PHP developers.

    The hope is that, with several people participating, newbies and
experts alike will be able to say, "hey, I never thought of doing it
that way!" or, "wow, I didn't even know PHP had that functionality
built-in!" while also achieving the goals mentioned earlier.

    Hope to see a good amount of participation.  Remember, wait until
Friday (in your time zone!).  If you come up with some in the
meantime, just hold onto them until then; there's no limit to the
amount of submissions anyone can send.  In fact, the more we get, the
more fun it should be for those who participate.

    One final note --- whomever starts the thread on Friday, please
use the following subject, verbatim:

        PHP Brainteasers 2011

    This way, folks who don't want to be involved can't just filter
that thread out and not be bombarded.

    Thanks, all.  Looking forward to seeing what everyone invents and
puzzling over them myself!

-- 
</Daniel P. Brown>
Network Infrastructure Manager
http://www.php.net/

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