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There was a really big argument at the time, the crux of which was that since the PHP parser isn't context aware they had to use a symbol that wasn't used elsew
by rossriley 18y ago
There was a really big argument at the time, the crux of which was that since the PHP parser isn't context aware they had to use a symbol that wasn't used elsewhere. :: is used for static calls, . is used for concatenation.
So the choice ended up being between ::: and the backslash, the backslash being chosen because it is easier to type.
- habibur 18y agoWould like to add that the other best choice single colon ":" might have been a good candidate too. But PHP 5.3 also introduced the age old goto command, and colon was assigned to for labeling goto targets.