Too restrictive composer.json version requirements for nikic/php-parser

[d42ohpaz]

Both the develop and master composer.json use the ^ to restrict nikic/php-parser to a single major version. This is problematic as php-parser is one major version ahead of develop and three major versions ahead of master. Does this package not work on newer versions?

The use-case for this ticket is that I am building a jenkins CI environment, and I'm using ramsey/jenkins-php to install the various tools I plan to use. It depends on phpdocumentor/phpdocumentor 2.8, which depends on phpdocumentor/reflection ^3.0, which depends on nikic/php-parser ^1.0.

When I try to install phpstan/phpstan-symfony, which depends on nikic/php-parser ^4.0, it fails because nikic/php-parser ^1.0 is already installed:

[root@localhost ~]# /usr/local/bin/composer global require phpstan/phpstan-symfony
Changed current directory to /root/.composer
Using version ^0.10.1 for phpstan/phpstan-symfony
./composer.json has been updated
Loading composer repositories with package information
Updating dependencies (including require-dev)
Your requirements could not be resolved to an installable set of packages.

  Problem 1
    - Installation request for phpstan/phpstan-symfony ^0.10.1 -> satisfiable by phpstan/phpstan-symfony[0.10.1].
    - Conclusion: remove nikic/php-parser v1.4.1
    - Conclusion: don't install nikic/php-parser v1.4.1
    - phpstan/phpstan-symfony 0.10.1 requires nikic/php-parser ^4.0 -> satisfiable by nikic/php-parser[v4.0.0, v4.0.1, v4.0.2, v4.0.3].
    - Can only install one of: nikic/php-parser[v4.0.0, v1.4.1].
    - Can only install one of: nikic/php-parser[v4.0.1, v1.4.1].
    - Can only install one of: nikic/php-parser[v4.0.2, v1.4.1].
    - Can only install one of: nikic/php-parser[v4.0.3, v1.4.1].
    - Installation request for nikic/php-parser (locked at v1.4.1) -> satisfiable by nikic/php-parser[v1.4.1].


Installation failed, reverting ./composer.json to its original content.

Would it not be more preferable to use a constraint such as >=1.0.0 (master) and >=3.0.0 (develop)?

At this juncture, I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place in having to decide between two equally needed tools for my CI environment.

As a side note, I will also be reaching out to phpstan/phpstan-symfony about their usage of the ^ version constraint as well.

[mvriel]

PHP Parser doesn't play games with the term 'major version'; so far every major version has had backwards breaking changes big enough to make phpDocumentor unusable. Restricting unto a major version is necessary to ensure phpDocumentor works. Mind you, this is not just phpDocumentor; any tool using PHP-Parser would not have the flexibility that you desire

[jaapio]

beside that we and phpstan do both provide a phar file it cover issues like this one. I would highly recommend you to have a look at https://phar.io/ which is an upcomming packagemanager for php applications like phpstan phpunit and phpdocumentor.

That said I just create a pr #128 to support v4 of php-parser in develop. However that will not help you with this conflict. The v4 release of this package will not be supported by phpdocumentor v2.

[d42ohpaz]

@jaapio Thank you! I was unaware of the phars and phar.io. I will definitely prefer these over the composer versions for my use case. And thank you also for #128. :)