pph

A simple transpiler that makes writing PHP easier.

Reminder

PPH is currently in development, so there is a possibility of encountering bugs. I also want to add more features so people can use for example more helpers, or just make PPH a better experience, but I decided to release it like this for now.

How to install

To install PPH (the CLI is built in), create a directory and then clone the repository by running git clone https://github.com/warlord-hash/pph.git.

After that, go in the directory you cloned this repository into, and run composer install to fetch all dependencies.

How to use

To use the CLI and compile a file, please use this command:

php C:/clonedRepoDirectoryHere/pph compile in=srcfolderhere out=compiledfilesdirectory --alt-explode

or, you can use it like this (if you opened powershell in the directory you cloned the repository to, or if you just used the cd command to get to it):

php pph compile in=srcfolderhere out=compiledfilesdirectory --alt-explode

Explanation:

• php - PHP.exe as provided in the PATH envieroment variable
• C:/clonedRepoDirectoryHere/pph - the directory where you cloned the repository into
• compile - the PPH CLI compile command
• in=srcfolderhere - parameter which takes in a directory where the pph files are stored (can be a full path, for example: D:\pph-tests)
• out=compiledfilesdirectory - parameter which takes in a directory where the pph files will be saved to as php files (can be a full path, for example: D:\pph-tests)
• alt-explode - an optional flag, if without the flag the files are missing semicolons or any other helpers please use this flag

Syntax overview

A simple code sample:

echo "hello"
echo "test"

class Test {
    fun test() {
        echo "hi"
    }
}

$test = new Test()
$test->test()

From that example, we can say that:

• PHP tags (<?php and ?>) are no longer required to be written in the file. PPH's transpiler will put them in for you.
• Semicolons are no longer required, but can be optionally put at the end of any line.
• Functions are now written as "fun" (although can still be written as "function")

A few things are ommited from that sample, such as:

• The #helper-stop and #helper-start lines. They're the lines responsible for currently transform 'fun' into a function. By default, helpers are enabled but you can disable them by writing #helper-stop. To allow helpers again, you can use #helper-start.
• The #php-end line, this will instead at the end of the file put a PHP ending tag (?>) on the line you used this helper. (this is not affected by #helper-stop)