[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #55603: PHP 8.2: address deprecation of the utf8_encode() and utf8_decode() functions

[WordPress Trac]

#55603: PHP 8.2: address deprecation of the utf8_encode() and utf8_decode()
functions
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 Reporter:  jrf                             |       Owner:  hellofromTonya
     Type:  task (blessed)                  |      Status:  assigned
 Priority:  normal                          |   Milestone:  6.6
Component:  General                         |     Version:  6.0
 Severity:  normal                          |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  2nd-opinion php82 dev-feedback  |     Focuses:  coding-
                                            |  standards
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Comment (by dmsnell):

 > Many WP site will be on PHP 8.2 and below for many years to come,
 continuing to experience these deprecation warnings

 I can understand where this would be a hassle, given that PHP will spit
 out those messages on the console for sites that are essentially working
 fine.

 In that case, maybe we missed a silly third option, which is replace
 Core's use of these functions with a differently-named polyfill. The
 upsides of replacing calls to `utf8_encode` are clear, but the cost of
 making those changes isn't. If we would still have interest in what is
 essentially a zero-effort change, it seems like adding
 `deprecated_utf8_encode()` and `deprecated_utf8_decode()` could defer the
 maintenance work (valuable since the existing code //is working// more or
 less) while eliminating the warnings and also making these uses standout
 for more gradual and safe refactoring.

 For transparency sake here I'm only sharing ideas that I think have
 possibly-valuable tradeoffs in order to meet an //urgent// need without
 forcing more costly and risky rewrites. I don't hold a strong opinion on
 this or what everyone decides.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55603#comment:65>
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