One thing I have always missed in PHP is a useful and robust REPL. A tool you could fire up, throw code at and have it evaluated in real time. There is the built-in interactive mode (php -a) but it does not qualify as neither very useful nor robust.
Boris, from Chris Corbyn, solves this. He describes it as a tiny little, but robust REPL for PHP and this is exactly what I have been missing all these years. Thanks, Chris!
There are a couple of ways to install it but I prefer using Composer:
$ composer global require 'd11wtq/boris=*'0
Now you should be able to run boris and fire away your code at it.
[1] boris> 1 + 2 * 3;
→ int(7)
It properly catches errors and lets you carry on without having to restart.
[1] boris> "one two $three";
PHP Notice: Undefined variable: three in phar:///usr/local/bin/boris/lib/Boris/EvalWorker.php(122) : eval()'d code on line 1
PHP Stack trace:
PHP 1. {main}() /usr/local/bin/boris:0
PHP 2. require() /usr/local/bin/boris:10
PHP 3. Boris\Boris->start() phar:///usr/local/bin/boris/bin/boris:15
PHP 4. Boris\EvalWorker->start() phar:///usr/local/bin/boris/lib/Boris/Boris.php:139
PHP 5. eval() phar:///usr/local/bin/boris/lib/Boris/EvalWorker.php:122
→ string(8) "one two "
[2] boris> "one two three";
→ string(13) "one two three"
Specialized PHP REPL
This is cool enough but I wanted to take Boris further, so I created a small library to load in project resources. Currently there is support for Symfony (Standard Edition), Drupal (7 and 8), eZ Publish and Composer based apps.
Check out tobiassjosten/boris-loader.
Installation is super simple. Just clone the repository and then add to your ~/.borisrc configuration file the following content:
<?php
require 'path/to/cloned/boris-loader.php';
\Boris\Loader\Loader::load($boris);
And that it is; your Boris instance should now be able to recognize your standard Composer based projects. For more specialized projects you will need to load their providers explicitly.
Symfony REPL
Tell boris-loader to use the Symfony provider by tweaking your .borisrc file.
\Boris\Loader\Loader::load($boris, [
new \Boris\Loader\Provider\Symfony2(),
]);
Now, starting Boris within a Symfony project will take care of autoloading and build a Symfony kernel for you. Both the kernel and its container will be available in Boris and you can tell it has loaded by the symfony> prompt.
[1] symfony> $container->get('doctrine');
→ class Doctrine\Bundle\DoctrineBundle\Registry#332 (7) {
protected $container =>
class appDevDebugProjectContainer#337 (10) {
protected $parameterBag =>
NULL
// …
For Symfony I am assuming you are using the Standard Edition, with app/bootstrap.php.cache and app/AppKernel.php files.
Drupal REPL
Have boris-loader use the Drupal providers adding them to your .borisrc file.
\Boris\Loader\Loader::load($boris, [
new \Boris\Loader\Provider\Drupal7(),
new \Boris\Loader\Provider\Drupal8()
]);
If you are standing in a Drupal project when firing up Boris with those providers, you will land in a fully bootstrapped Drupal instance. As with the Symfony provider you have access to Drupal’s $kernel and $container and of course also the entire Drupal API.
[1] drupal> node_load(1);
→ class Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityBCDecorator#1158 (2) {
protected $decorated =>
class Drupal\node\Plugin\Core\Entity\Node#1156 (9) {
protected $bundle =>
string(7) "article"
protected $values =>
array(21) {
// …
REPL for other PHP projects
With Symfony, Drupal, eZ Publish and generic Composer support, I am covering my own needs but not likely all of yours. The loader is open source though, so just send me a pull request for your favorite project!
Check the project out at GitHub.