Stdlib: strcmp family — TypeError for array/object operands (ext/standard/string.c parity)

[PurHur]

Category

stdlib

Problem

strcmp(), strcasecmp(), strncmp(), and strncasecmp() are typed string in PHP 8+. Passing array or object operands must throw TypeError with Zend message shapes. This compiler’s VM paths either compare incorrectly (strcmp([], []) → 0) or return sentinel integers (strcasecmp([], 'x') → -1) instead of failing.

php-src reference

• php/php-src ext/standard/string.c — PHP_FUNCTION(strcmp) et al. (ZPP string args)
• Related umbrella: Stdlib: builtin wrong-type parameters — TypeError not LogicException (ext/standard parity) #4178 (builtin TypeError vs LogicException)

Repro (failure today)

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

try {
    strcmp([], 'x');
} catch (Throwable $e) {
    echo get_class($e), ': ', $e->getMessage(), "\n";
}

var_export(strcmp([], []));
echo "\n";
var_export(strcasecmp([], 'x'));
echo "\n";

HARNESS_DOCKER_RUN_OPTS='--memory=8g --cpus=2' ./script/docker-exec.sh -- bash -lc '
  source script/php-env.sh
  php repro.php
  php bin/vm.php repro.php
'

Call	Zend PHP 8.x	This compiler VM (today)
strcmp([], 'x')	TypeError	TypeError (OK)
strcmp([], [])	TypeError	0
strcasecmp([], 'x')	TypeError	-1

Scope (this repo)

Module	Path
VM	ext/standard/strcmp.php, strcasecmp.php, strncmp.php, strncasecmp.php
JIT/AOT	lib/JIT/Builtin/ counterparts
Tests	compliance PHPT + test/unit/*Compare*

Done when

• Non-string operands (array/object/resource where disallowed) raise TypeError, never silent compare or LogicException.
• No false 0 / -1 results for invalid types.

[PurHur]

claim: PHP Compiler STD Lib — starting this run

[PurHur]

Unclaiming: strcmp()/strcasecmp()/strncmp()/strncasecmp() already throw TypeError on array operands via VmString::coerceStringBuiltinArg / JitStringBuiltinArg on master. VM repro matches Zend for all three cases in issue spec. Closing as duplicate unless repro differs.

[PurHur]

Closed by lane-C hygiene (#10241): strcmp/strcasecmp array operands throw TypeError on VM matching Zend. Verified in Docker 2026-07-13.