[wp-hackers] WP & MVC

[Ryan Boren]

On 2/24/07, Martin Sturm <msturm10 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Well, PHP4/5 has reasonable support for classes and  objects, but the
> main problem with PHP is that the core isn't object oriented, and that
> it requires at least PHP5 in order to do OO the proper way. That would
> mean adding PHP5 as a requirement for WordPress, which is not
> something the core developers will support (I guess).

No. Screwing users because developers want to play is not cool.  It's
a good way to become irrelevant.  A big reason WP is so popular is
because it is not infatuated with the latest, greatest developer lust
objects that require users to upgrade their platform.  You don't need
php5 OO or any OO at all to do MVC.

> But then again, I think it is not worth the effort to rewrite the
> entire core of WP just to make it object oriented. Certainly, if there
> are possibilities to structure it better or make the code cleaner, it
> should be done.

Cleaning up the code as we go is a good thing.  Using objects where
appropriate is fine.  I'm not much interested in rewriting WP in the
image of pure OO, however.  <grumpy-old-engineer-mode>I spent years
developing in Smalltalk and C++.  I've written embedded CORBA ORBs and
embedded object databases.  I've seen pure OO zealotry wax and wan.
OO is just a tool.  WP doesn't need to be reinvented, just massaged.
Let's do some pragmatic engineering that keeps users in mind instead
of engineering for the sake of engineering that accomplishes little
beyond giving developers a new toy to play
with.</grumpy-old-engineer-mode>

Ryan