Stdlib: ReflectionType abstract base — ReflectionNamedType must extend ReflectionType (ext/reflection/php_reflection.c)

[PurHur]

Category

stdlib | language

Problem

Zend exposes an abstract ReflectionType base class; ReflectionNamedType, ReflectionUnionType, and ReflectionIntersectionType extend it. This compiler registers the concrete type classes in lib/VM/BuiltinClasses.php but does not register ReflectionType itself, so:

• class_exists('ReflectionType') is false
• is_subclass_of('ReflectionNamedType', 'ReflectionType') is false
• instanceof ReflectionType checks in user/framework code fail

php-src reference

• php/php-src ext/reflection/php_reflection.c — register_reflection_type, ReflectionType abstract class
• php/php-src ext/reflection/php_reflection.stub.php

Repro (failure today)

./script/docker-exec.sh -- bash -lc 'source script/php-env.sh
php bin/vm.php -r "class T{function f(): int{}} \$m=new ReflectionMethod(T::class,\"f\"); \$t=\$m->getReturnType(); echo get_class(\$t),\" parent=\",get_parent_class(\$t),\" instanceof=\",var_export(\$t instanceof ReflectionType,true);"
php -r "class T{function f(): int{}} \$m=new ReflectionMethod(T::class,\"f\"); \$t=\$m->getReturnType(); echo get_class(\$t),\" parent=\",get_parent_class(\$t),\" instanceof=\",var_export(\$t instanceof ReflectionType,true);"
'

Check	Zend PHP 8.2	bin/vm.php (2026-06-06)
class_exists('ReflectionType')	true	false
get_parent_class($namedType)	ReflectionType	false
$namedType instanceof ReflectionType	true	false

Note: ReflectionMethod::getReturnType() is also missing here — tracked in #6597 (this issue is the type hierarchy slice). Pair with #5141 (hasReturnType) and #4650 (union/intersection getTypes()).

Scope (this repo)

Component	Path
Abstract class registration	lib/VM/BuiltinClasses.php, lib/VM/ReflectionTypeSupport.php
Parent links	Set ReflectionNamedType / union / intersection parent to ReflectionType
Shared methods	allowsNull(), __toString() already on concrete classes — hoist to abstract base metadata

Implement in lib/VM/ + reflection builtins; no new C runtime.

Done when

• class_exists('ReflectionType') is true; concrete reflection type classes report parent ReflectionType
• is_subclass_of('ReflectionNamedType', 'ReflectionType') and instanceof ReflectionType succeed on VM
• Compliance: test/compliance/cases/stdlib/reflection_type_hierarchy.phpt matches Zend
• Does not regress existing reflection PHPTs

Strictness: php-src-strict

[PurHur]

claim: worker-lane-a — starting this run

[PurHur]

Merged in #7600.

Fix: Registered abstract `ReflectionType` in `lib/VM/BuiltinClasses.php` with `allowsNull()` / `__toString()`; linked `ReflectionNamedType`, `ReflectionUnionType`, and `ReflectionIntersectionType` via `parentLc`.

Verification:
```bash
./script/docker-exec.sh -- bash -lc 'source script/php-env.sh && php vendor/bin/phpunit --filter reflection_type_hierarchy'

OK (2 tests, 2 assertions) — VM + JIT

```

`class_exists('ReflectionType')`, `get_parent_class($t)`, `instanceof ReflectionType`, and `is_subclass_of('ReflectionNamedType', 'ReflectionType')` now match Zend. No C runtime changes.