Why enums aren't extendable

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- Why enums aren't extendable

## Why enums aren't extendable

Classes have contracts on their methods:

    <?php

    class A {}
    class B extends A {}

    function foo(A $a) {}

    function bar(B $b) {
        foo($b);
    }
    ?>

This code is type-safe, as B follows the contract of A, and through the magic of co/contra-variance, any expectation one may have of the methods will be preserved, exceptions excepted.

Enums have contracts on their cases, not methods:

    <?php

    enum ErrorCode {
        case SOMETHING_BROKE;
    }

    function quux(ErrorCode $errorCode)
    {
        // When written, this code appears to cover all cases
        match ($errorCode) {
            ErrorCode::SOMETHING_BROKE => true,
        }
    }

    ?>

The match statement in the function `quux` can be static analyzed to cover all of the cases in ErrorCode.

But imagine it was allowed to extend enums:

    <?php

    // Thought experiment code where enums are not final.
    // Note, this won't actually work in PHP.
    enum MoreErrorCode extends ErrorCode {
        case PEBKAC;
    }

    function fot(MoreErrorCode $errorCode) {
        quux($errorCode);
    }

    fot(MoreErrorCode::PEBKAC);

    ?>

Under normal inheritance rules, a class that extends another will pass the type check.

The problem would be that the match statement in `quux()` no longer covers all the cases. Because it doesn't know about `MoreErrorCode::PEBKAC` the match will throw an exception.

Because of this enums are final and can't be extended.