> How is '<?=' being always on great change? I always thought it was weird and kind of stupid, but I'm genuinely curious how is that great thing.
When you share your code with various clients (open source, software seller, ...), you can not assume that short array are on, thus you have to use <?php echo $var ?> everytime instead of the shorter <?=$var?>. Having the second syntax always working solves that, this is on the same level as the short array syntax change, removing a hurdle and letting you concentrate on more important stuff.
> $a = "foo"; $a[0][0]
$a is a string "foo"
$a[0] is a string "f" equating to substr($a, 0, 1)
$a[0][0] is a string "f" equating to substr($a[0], 0, 1)
> $a[0][1]
This will give an undefined index error, same thing as $a[42] for exemple, since index 1 doesn't exists in $a[0] (= "f")
> thus you have to use <?php echo $var ?> everytime instead of the shorter <?=$var?>
Is this really a huge concern? I guess I just have $tockholm syndrome at this point, and am used to writing <?php echo $var; ?> explicitly every time, precisely for the reasons you mentioned. It's one less thing to worry about.
When you share your code with various clients (open source, software seller, ...), you can not assume that short array are on, thus you have to use <?php echo $var ?> everytime instead of the shorter <?=$var?>. Having the second syntax always working solves that, this is on the same level as the short array syntax change, removing a hurdle and letting you concentrate on more important stuff.
> $a = "foo"; $a[0][0]
$a is a string "foo" $a[0] is a string "f" equating to substr($a, 0, 1) $a[0][0] is a string "f" equating to substr($a[0], 0, 1)
> $a[0][1]
This will give an undefined index error, same thing as $a[42] for exemple, since index 1 doesn't exists in $a[0] (= "f")