PHP Blade compiler research

[crcn]

WIP

Something worth exploring for inspiration about how PC can be used in other languages. Not necessarily a ticket item for building out a PC compiler.

https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/blade

Notes:

• Possibly need to compile PC files when they're imported in PHP files
  • implies PC engine needs to run in PHP, may encourage Rust FFI version instead
  • php-rs may help with rust FFI - looks like thin layer that interfaces with Zend
• Need to look into compile caching (AFAIK PHP easily does this) if compiling in PHP script
• Need to consider how CSS and assets are emitted
  • There may need to be a PC engine that serves this stuff. More likely devs will want these assets to be deployed to a CDN.

CC @zephraph

[crcn]

Can take inspiration from other libraries like SASS and Less. Looks like they have a few options - a CLI tool for compiling to CSS, and also a PHP API.

• https://leafo.net/scssphp/
• https://leafo.net/lessphp/

Seems like the most sane approach is to just have devs build PC files using a CLI tool and have assets spit out into certain directories (config defined in paperclip.config.json).

[crcn]

Looks like Laravel has its own build tool:

https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/mix