Zend: refactor type checking and unify const, prop, arg, and return values

[Girgias]

W.I.P. this is an attempt to unify the type checking logic so that class properties and constants use the same routines as arguments and return values for functions.

Pre-requisites:

• Implement Stringable on GMP object
• Implement Stringable on ext/com variant object

[github-actions]

AWS x86_64 (c6id.metal)

Attribute	Value
Environment	aws
Instance type	c6id.metal
Architecture	x86_64
CPU	Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8375C CPU @ 2.90GHz, 64 cores @ 2900 MHz
CPU settings	disabled deeper C-states, disabled turbo boost, disabled hyper-threading
RAM	251 GB
Kernel	6.12.66-88.122.amzn2023.x86_64
OS	Amazon Linux 2023.10.20260202
GCC	14.2.1
Time	2026-03-30 22:26:55 UTC
Job details	https://github.com/php/php-src/actions/runs/23770742851 (Artifacts)
Changeset	https://github.com/php/php-src/compare/cd753007ce..79c7881b97

Laravel 12.11.0 demo app - 50 iterations, 50 warmups, 100 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.38938	0.39099	0.00029	0.07%	0.38982	0.00%	0.38977	0.00%	1.520	0.000	1.000	25.17 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.38925	0.39058	0.00033	0.09%	0.38988	0.02%	0.38986	0.02%	0.114	-1.282	0.200	25.21 MB

Symfony 2.8.0 demo app - 50 iterations, 50 warmups, 100 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.66347	0.66543	0.00043	0.07%	0.66394	0.00%	0.66380	0.00%	2.003	0.000	1.000	25.19 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.66705	0.66905	0.00043	0.06%	0.66755	0.54%	0.66743	0.55%	1.723	-8.614	0.000	25.24 MB

Wordpress 6.9 main page - 50 iterations, 20 warmups, 20 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.58429	0.58789	0.00092	0.16%	0.58517	0.00%	0.58488	0.00%	1.932	0.000	1.000	25.26 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.58642	0.59025	0.00077	0.13%	0.58716	0.34%	0.58691	0.35%	2.602	-7.170	0.000	25.24 MB

bench.php - 50 iterations, 20 warmups, 2 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.44384	0.44610	0.00061	0.14%	0.44513	0.00%	0.44530	0.00%	-0.284	0.000	1.000	25.26 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.44379	0.44682	0.00071	0.16%	0.44486	-0.06%	0.44479	-0.12%	0.591	2.227	0.026	25.24 MB

[github-actions]

AWS x86_64 (c6id.metal)

Attribute	Value
Environment	aws
Instance type	c6id.metal
Architecture	x86_64
CPU	Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8375C CPU @ 2.90GHz, 64 cores @ 2900 MHz
CPU settings	disabled deeper C-states, disabled turbo boost, disabled hyper-threading
RAM	251 GB
Kernel	6.12.66-88.122.amzn2023.x86_64
OS	Amazon Linux 2023.10.20260202
GCC	14.2.1
Time	2026-03-31 00:20:04 UTC
Job details	https://github.com/php/php-src/actions/runs/23774219829 (Artifacts)
Changeset	https://github.com/php/php-src/compare/cd753007ce..5d77206a6f

Laravel 12.11.0 demo app - 50 iterations, 50 warmups, 100 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.38939	0.39137	0.00039	0.10%	0.38977	0.00%	0.38967	0.00%	2.504	0.000	1.000	25.18 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.38896	0.39100	0.00043	0.11%	0.38957	-0.05%	0.38943	-0.06%	1.711	3.767	0.000	25.22 MB

Symfony 2.8.0 demo app - 50 iterations, 50 warmups, 100 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.66274	0.67079	0.00128	0.19%	0.66350	0.00%	0.66327	0.00%	4.819	0.000	1.000	25.20 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.66877	0.67265	0.00100	0.15%	0.66959	0.92%	0.66919	0.89%	1.852	-8.317	0.000	25.25 MB

Wordpress 6.9 main page - 50 iterations, 20 warmups, 20 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.58419	0.58853	0.00066	0.11%	0.58491	0.00%	0.58470	0.00%	3.548	0.000	1.000	25.27 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.58682	0.59020	0.00081	0.14%	0.58761	0.46%	0.58741	0.46%	2.223	-8.310	0.000	25.19 MB

bench.php - 50 iterations, 20 warmups, 2 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.44256	0.44697	0.00088	0.20%	0.44511	0.00%	0.44521	0.00%	-0.444	0.000	1.000	25.27 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.44346	0.44591	0.00057	0.13%	0.44464	-0.11%	0.44453	-0.15%	0.267	3.285	0.001	25.19 MB

[github-actions]

AWS x86_64 (c6id.metal)

Attribute	Value
Environment	aws
Instance type	c6id.metal
Architecture	x86_64
CPU	Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8375C CPU @ 2.90GHz, 64 cores @ 2900 MHz
CPU settings	disabled deeper C-states, disabled turbo boost, disabled hyper-threading
RAM	251 GB
Kernel	6.12.66-88.122.amzn2023.x86_64
OS	Amazon Linux 2023.10.20260202
GCC	14.2.1
Time	2026-03-31 12:04:13 UTC
Job details	https://github.com/php/php-src/actions/runs/23796277304 (Artifacts)
Changeset	https://github.com/php/php-src/compare/cd753007ce..fe9560a793

Laravel 12.11.0 demo app - 50 iterations, 50 warmups, 100 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.38945	0.39035	0.00024	0.06%	0.38987	0.00%	0.38985	0.00%	0.336	0.000	1.000	25.17 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.38899	0.39043	0.00031	0.08%	0.38954	-0.08%	0.38946	-0.10%	1.057	5.587	0.000	25.21 MB

Symfony 2.8.0 demo app - 50 iterations, 50 warmups, 100 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.66295	0.66724	0.00063	0.10%	0.66360	0.00%	0.66343	0.00%	4.069	0.000	1.000	25.19 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.66854	0.67412	0.00136	0.20%	0.66943	0.88%	0.66893	0.83%	2.443	-8.614	0.000	25.24 MB

Wordpress 6.9 main page - 50 iterations, 20 warmups, 20 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.58445	0.59252	0.00138	0.24%	0.58525	0.00%	0.58480	0.00%	3.642	0.000	1.000	25.21 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.58691	0.59509	0.00119	0.20%	0.58754	0.39%	0.58723	0.42%	5.601	-7.166	0.000	25.20 MB

bench.php - 50 iterations, 20 warmups, 2 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@cd75300	0.44371	0.44634	0.00058	0.13%	0.44503	0.00%	0.44503	0.00%	0.044	0.000	1.000	25.21 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.44340	0.44599	0.00055	0.12%	0.44455	-0.11%	0.44451	-0.12%	0.375	3.974	0.000	25.20 MB

[github-actions]

AWS x86_64 (c6id.metal)

Attribute	Value
Environment	aws
Instance type	c6id.metal
Architecture	x86_64
CPU	Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8375C CPU @ 2.90GHz, 64 cores @ 2900 MHz
CPU settings	disabled deeper C-states, disabled turbo boost, disabled hyper-threading
RAM	251 GB
Kernel	6.12.66-88.122.amzn2023.x86_64
OS	Amazon Linux 2023.10.20260202
GCC	14.2.1
Time	2026-03-31 19:43:57 UTC
Job details	https://github.com/php/php-src/actions/runs/23816125622 (Artifacts)
Changeset	https://github.com/php/php-src/compare/a231da8d28..79c99b40e7

Laravel 12.11.0 demo app - 50 iterations, 50 warmups, 100 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@a231da8	0.38895	0.39071	0.00034	0.09%	0.38967	0.00%	0.38967	0.00%	0.575	0.000	1.000	25.18 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.38779	0.38987	0.00049	0.13%	0.38839	-0.33%	0.38829	-0.35%	1.489	7.880	0.000	25.28 MB

Symfony 2.8.0 demo app - 50 iterations, 50 warmups, 100 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@a231da8	0.66453	0.66802	0.00057	0.09%	0.66515	0.00%	0.66499	0.00%	2.851	0.000	1.000	25.20 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.67153	0.68003	0.00128	0.19%	0.67251	1.11%	0.67215	1.08%	4.492	-8.614	0.000	25.19 MB

Wordpress 6.9 main page - 50 iterations, 20 warmups, 20 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@a231da8	0.58494	0.58919	0.00087	0.15%	0.58569	0.00%	0.58541	0.00%	2.891	0.000	1.000	25.22 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.58561	0.58986	0.00096	0.16%	0.58673	0.18%	0.58645	0.18%	2.209	-7.014	0.000	25.21 MB

bench.php - 50 iterations, 20 warmups, 2 requests (sec)

PHP	Min	Max	Std dev	Rel std dev %	Mean	Mean diff %	Median	Median diff %	Skewness	Z-stat	P-value	Memory
PHP - baseline@a231da8	0.44323	0.44780	0.00077	0.17%	0.44529	0.00%	0.44526	0.00%	0.414	0.000	1.000	25.22 MB
PHP - 2026-03-type-checking-merge	0.44341	0.44650	0.00067	0.15%	0.44474	-0.12%	0.44471	-0.12%	0.680	3.909	0.000	25.21 MB