no_superfluous_phpdoc_tags and pseudo variadic arguments

[NickSdot]

I don’t open an issue for this because it’s more of a philosophical question.

Should no_superfluous_phpdoc_tags be smart enough to not remove @param mixed ...$tags in the below example?

/**
     * Assign a set of tags to a given binding.
     *
     * @param  array|string  $abstracts
     * @param  mixed  ...$tags
     * @return void
     */
    public function tag($abstracts, $tags)
    {
        $tags = is_array($tags) ? $tags : array_slice(func_get_args(), 1);

        // ...
    }

This method is part of the Laravel container. The usage of array_slice(func_get_args(), 1) makes the second argument pseudo variadic. And the intention is apparently to communicate it via phpdoc.

[kubawerlos]

Should no_superfluous_phpdoc_tags be smart enough to not remove @param mixed ...$tags in the below example?

Why would it? ...$tags is not the same as $tags and no_superfluous_phpdoc_tags is not analysing how the parameter is used, only if PHPDoc tag is superfluous.

[NickSdot]

Why would it?

Because here the phpdoc is used to communicate intend.
It's correct that ...$tags isn't the exact same as $tags.
But the method in the example in fact accepts many tags.
And that was documented via .... phpdoc primarily exists to document code. :)

is not analysing how the parameter is used

Yes, and my question is if such cases should be taken into account.

--

I have no strong opinion here myself; I just feel that it kinda would make sense to not remove it in such cases.

[mspirkov]

I think that no_superfluous_phpdoc_tags should not take such cases into account. The need for pseudo variadic arguments was before PHP 5.6, and PHP CS Fixer supports PHP 7.4 and above.
Regarding Laravel. It seems that this code was written a long time ago and has not been changed since (perhaps to maintain backward compatibility). I think it's better to use real variadic arguments now.